Scars
by Maelstra
Summary: A diplomatic mission to Autozam turns sour, and meanwhile a mysterious girl is threatening Ferio. Can the Magic Knights figure out what's going on in time to save their friends again?
1. A Landing Platform on Autozam

_I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth. It is the creation of the wonderful CLAMP._

_This is probably the cheesiest thing I've ever written, but it is the result of an experiment. My question was: if you take two mediocre story ideas, and combine them into a single story, does it make one good story? My conclusion: . . . Um, I don't know still. Maybe it does make it better. I'll let you judge, okay?_

_And I want to add two more little disclaimers. First is that this story follows the manga, not the anime. Second is that I tried to keep Fuu in character, but it sounded really funny to have her calling everyone "Miss" or "Mister." So, in compromise, I decided to just have her use the Japanese suffix "san." I hope you don't mind._

_I don't know of anything else in this story that warrants explanation, but if there is, please feel free to ask. Happy reading._

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**Scars**

_by Maelstra_

**Scene 1: A Landing Platform on Autozam**

Ascot trailed after Lafarga, disembarking from the ship they had borrowed, onto a smoky balcony on the dying world of Autozam. The ride had made him nervous, and almost queasy, so he was anxious to be back on solid ground.

Autozam, however, seemed to have very little solid ground. All Ascot could see through the walls of smog were skyscrapers that reached up over a hundred feet higher into the sky and descended deeper than he could discern toward the distant, invisible ground. The balcony they stood on was unadorned metal only – very plain and utilitarian. Several people were waiting for them, and each wore voluminous robes that obscured both their visage and gender. One person stepped forward and beckoned for the two Cephirans to follow. Lafarga instantly started forward. Ascot contentedly followed close behind as their guide led them across the landing platform toward a narrow bridge that arced over a vast expanse to connect with a taller, more ornate skyscraper.

Ascot was glad that all the bridges and balconies had sturdy guardrails on both sides, but he nevertheless found the view quite exhilarating, and so was disappointed when their guide shortly led them inside the adjacent building.

Once the automatic door swished closed, the person pushed back some of the cloth, revealing a petite figure and bright face framed by dark hair. "Do you require any refreshment after your journey?" she asked smoothly, as if saying so was just a part of a routine.

Lafarga spoke up quickly, "No, we're fine. We would like to expedite our mission so that we may return home as soon as possible."

Ascot nodded anxiously in agreement. Though he knew it was unlikely, he could not help but hope that they could get back to Cephiro before the Magic Knights had to go back to their world again. Umi, Hikaru, and Fuu – the young girls chosen as Magic Knights by the last pillar – had not been to Cephiro for over a month, but had indicated they would likely stop by again on this exact day. Ascot had pled with Clef to let him stay behind, or at least delay this mission another day, but Clef had insisted that this trip to Autozam was too important to be put off. Prince Ferio had been more sympathetic to Ascot's feelings, but he had sided with Guru Clef as well. And so in the end, though Ascot had desperately wanted to be in Cephiro to see Umi, he had finally acquiesced to Clef and the prince's wishes.

As Clef had explained, Autozam was now quite desperate for help – so much so that they had even sent a ship to Cephiro to save the Cephirans the trouble of building their own ship to travel between the worlds. The air on Autozam was approaching toxic levels – already at lower levels on the planet, prolonged exposure to the air could be fatal. Eagle Vision had come to Cephiro with the idea of obtaining the Pillar System to adapt for use on Autozam (hoping that this might cure their world), but his efforts had failed, and he himself was still stranded on Cephiro, suffering from another mysterious disease that was afflicting the Autozamians. Ever since Eagle's mission failed, Autozam had been openly begging Cephiro to send someone to look at the problem, to see if Cephiran magic could do anything at all to save the dying world.

Ascot had wanted to ask why Clef had not decided to travel to Autozam himself – but he guessed it was most likely because of security concerns, and so he decided not to press the subject. Clef was the most well-known and well-respected Guru in all of Cephiro, and since the loss of the last Pillar, people tended to look to him as one of the few remaining reliable supports left in the world. If anything were to happen to him . . . Cephiro would not only lose a great man, but also the people might become so frightened that monsters created from the populations fears would again rise and terrorize their world.

But then, also, with the chaos of the trial for the Pillarship was still fresh in everyone's minds, Cephiro could not too lightly discount the fact that all three of their nearest neighbors had just tried to invade them. All three worlds, especially Autozam, had offered profuse apologies . . . but Ascot knew that if anyone tried anything of the sort again, it made more sense to have Clef, the greatest magic user in all of Cephiro, at home so he could help defend the world from any further trouble.

Their Autozamian guide directed them to an elevator, the leaned close to give Lafarga further directions. She smiled hopefully up at the tall blond man, but he only grunted in acknowledgment. It was a typical response for Lafarga, who very rarely showed much emotion – but Ascot also suspected some of the brusqueness of his response was due to his efforts to be true to a certain 'special someone' back in Cephiro. Ascot could not help sighing as he thought of it. How he wished that even once Umi would look at him the way that Caldina looked at Lafarga.

Only a moment after they boarded the elevator, it suddenly dropped through the floor and momentarily distracted Ascot from his ruminations. The walls of the round elevator were all tinted glass, granting a panoramic view of the architecture of all the surrounding buildings and walkways. Many buildings were almost as ornately decorated as the old Cephiran palace had been. Ascot realized that once Autozam had been a beautiful place. But now, the intricately carved faces of the buildings were stained black from the smog and smoke that dominated the atmosphere. The lower the elevator dropped, the darker the air became. Just before the elevator sunk into a lobby level, whose walls blocked the outdoors from view, the air took on a hideous green cast. Ascot was quite relieved once that disturbing sight disappeared.

Lafarga purposefully led the way down the center corridor, which was decorated sparsely with photographs of people of Autozam who had likely once been of some political import. The air pollution had evidently gotten to some of them – one of them suddenly reminded Ascot of Ferio until he realized that the man's skin and clothing were also all green. The effect was rather strange looking.

_Silly that I'd mistake him for the prince, just because of the green hair,_ Ascot chided himself. _Of course, green hair is not that common – even on Cephiro. I wonder if it's his will that keeps it that strange color?_

To be honest, the prince always looked a little odd (in Ascot's mind), regardless of his hair color. Since the survivors of Cephiro had started leaning on him to be their official leader, he had started wearing the royal robes that suited his position . . . but the clothes did not suit him at all. Ascot frequently wondered (but never, ever out loud) why the prince would choose to wear those white, fine robes – and yet would still keep his hair in the same, scruffy ponytail he had always worn. Not only that, be he also kept some very noticeable scars on his face. Ascot had heard that some audacious people had outright asked the prince to get rid of them. Yet . . . even though the prince acquiesced to the people in taking over the rule of Cephiro, and even though he humored them by wearing the white robes that looked so out of place on him, and even though he mostly gave up his ranging in the woods so that he could act his part in the government . . . Ferio refused the people on the issue of his scars. On Cephiro, where will becomes reality, all Ferio had to do was wish the scars away, and they'd be gone.

But, he didn't. Ascot still wondered why. After all the thought he'd given to it, he could only come to the conclusion that those marks on his face meant something to Ferio, something that perhaps no one else could understand. If he ever became more daring, Ascot hoped one day to ask Prince Ferio just what their significance was.

Ascot stopped short, just avoiding hitting a heavily robed door guard. "One moment please," the guard said gruffly, straightening up and then standing at attention.

Lafarga seemed content to wait, so Ascot resigned himself to it as well. He peered all around the waiting chamber, studying the many portraits on the walls. To his surprise, he thought he recognized one of the subjects – the portrait closest to the door they were waiting before bore a strong resemblance to Eagle. On closer examination, though, Ascot decided that the man in the picture could not be Eagle since this man looked several years older. However, the shape of the nose and the shade of his hair seemed identical. Perhaps it was Eagle's father?

Then someone rapped from the inside, and the door guard swiftly grasped the door by its oversized handle and yanked it open. "Proceed," he said brusquely.

Lafarga led the way, and as usual Ascot trailed after. The hall was long, ornately tiled, and draped with dark tapestries and hanging cloths.

"I'm sorry, but President Vision is presently occupied in a meeting . . ." a gray-haired man with a stiff face recited as he ambled closer to his visitors. Almost a dozen other people, all in various uniforms, though none as ornate as that of the speaker, conversed amongst themselves or milled about the room. "You'll have to wait a bit longer," the old man concluded.

"Not a problem," Lafarga grunted.

Ascot could not hold back an audible sigh. His noisy escape of breath drew the Autozamian's attention. The man came closer to Ascot and stared intently at him, narrowing his eyes.

The attention made Ascot cringe. He took a step backwards, trying to unobtrusively place Lafarga between himself and the creepy man. To his dismay, he only drew the attention of the rest of the people in the room. Ascot felt his face going red. _What? Do I have soot smeared all over my face?_ "I-is something the m-matter?" He meant to add "sir," or some other similarly polite words, but found speaking itself difficult enough for the moment that he decided not to bother.

The old man hissed sharply and took a step back. He waved one hand, and three armed soldiers swiftly came to his side. "Actually . . . we've changed our mind. Autozam does not wish to deal with Cephiro after all."

"What?!" Lafarga bellowed. "What sort of nonsense – !"

"If you do not leave the planet within five minutes, we will consider it an act of war," the old officer said coldly, his expression turning ugly. He drew a rifle from the holster on his hip. All the soldiers in the room followed suit.

"Five minutes?" Ascot gasped. "But this place is – we can't possibly – !"

"Don't question." Lafarga drew his sword. "Just run. Head back to the ship. I'll hold them off until you're safely away."

"But – !" Ascot had a thousand questions in his mind. His heart was pounding in terror. He wanted to argue with Lafarga, say it really wasn't necessary to buy him extra time just because he wasn't an amazing, buff swordsman like Lafarga . . . One stony look from Lafarga evaporated all his protestations. Ascot turned and sprinted for the door.

"Open fire," the gray Autozamian ordered simply.

No one tried to block Ascot from reaching the exit. As he charged out into the outside waiting chamber, several laser bolts ricocheted off the ceiling and floor, but missed him. Lafarga roared a battle cry. Ascot reached the elevator and jabbed the call button. The doors immediately opened . . . but then Ascot realized that if he took the elevator back up to the top, he would cut off Lafarga's only escape route. Once the swordsman finally decided to run, he would charge out into this hall, and wait vainly for an elevator that was a hundred floors away . . .

_Is there an alternative, so that I can leave Lafarga the elevator?_ Ascot scanned the room and noticed a disguised door that was labeled "staff only." _Maybe they have a backup elevator?_ He ran over to the door and pushed it open.

**Reeeeeee-rooooooo-reeeeeee-rooooooo!**

"G'ack!" Ascot had not anticipated there being an alarm on the door. _Too late to back out! _He dove into the room and ran headfirst into a staircase. The room was poorly lit, but Ascot could make out the details of a spiral staircase that dropped deeper into the floor, and also ascended up endlessly into the sky. _Hundreds of floors' worth . . . of stairs . . ._ The sound of laser fire was growing louder . . .

He forced himself to run – all the while trying to guess what the soldiers might expect him to do. The logical thing to do would be run up: so Ascot ran down. Three floors down, Ascot left the staircase and ran for a well-lit hallway on one side of the room. The hallway soon turned into an enclosed walkway that connected two buildings. Ascot did not let himself look up or down, just focusing on reaching the end of the hallway. Once he did, he nearly collapsed. _I wish . . . I followed Caldina's advice . . . and exercised more often . . ._ He leaned heavily against a wall, closed his eyes, and desperately hoped that Lafarga had gotten away and was now heading back to the ship. _I don't understand . . . why would they change their minds like that? Did they intend to betray us from the start?_ Ascot's heart was still pounding painfully. _If Ferio were here, he'd know what to do. __He__ wouldn't have just run away like a frightened child._

Ascot tried to slow his breathing and collect himself. _I've got to get to Lafarga, ASAP._ Reluctantly, he pushed himself off the wall and walked into the new room. Immediately obvious was an elevator nestled in one corner. Overjoyed with his lucky break, Ascot went over, called the elevator, and boarded it for the long ascent up to the 139th floor. He couldn't recall just which one they had landed on, but that button had a sticker beside it which said "Landing Platform." He figured it was a safe guess.

This elevator had no windows, so Ascot had nothing to watch but the changing elevator display screen that listed the current floor, weight, and velocity of the elevator. Around the 92nd floor, an invisible loudspeaker in the elevator hummed to life.

**Attention all denizens. There are two fugitives loose in this area. One is tall and blond – the other is brunet and dressed in green and white robes. They are considered extremely dangerous, and any means necessary should be used to neutralize them . . . **

Ascot clutched his hat around his ears and whimpered. "I'm not dangerous . . . although, for once I wish I were." _I know a little magic, but I don't know if it would work away from Cephiro . . ._

The loudspeaker repeated its message, then clicked off. Before Ascot could form a viable plan, the elevator doors opened on the 133rd floor.

Seven robed citizens were waiting on the outside. Ascot gaped at them. They stared back. "Um . . . excuse me . . ." Ascot carefully negotiated his way through the group. Once he was past them, he broke into a run. He had no plan, no idea where he was going. He saw several white doors on the far side of the dark gray room, so he chose a middle one at random and charged through.

It lead to a staircase. _Good._ Ascot tried to make his aching legs run upstairs once more. Once he thought he had gone up six more floors, he pushed open the door on the landing and stepped through.

This time he found himself outside, in the smoggy air again, on a landing platform. But, though similar, it was plainly not the one he and Lafarga had landed on. And, unfortunately, this one was not empty.

"It's one of them!" Several soldiers in dark gray robes noticed Ascot and opened fire.

The landing platform had several personal vehicles parked on it, so Ascot dove behind one of them for cover. Laser beams struck the ground around him, making smoking scorch marks, and one struck the vehicle he was hiding behind with enough force to shift it an inch.

Desperate and out of ideas, Ascot decided to try summoning one of his monster friends. He had little confidence that the spell would work, so far away from his friends and Cephiro – but to his relief the magic circle appeared around him like normal, and a glowing portal opened in the sky.

The Autozamians had never seen magic before. They ceased fire and backed away, muttering nervously.

The monster Ascot had called – a large, hairy one with oversized claws and spiked wings – lunged through the portal and landed heavily on the platform surface. She cracked the ground where she touched down. The Autozamians collectively squawked in fright and bolted.

"Just keep them distracted until I find Lafarga," Ascot directed his friend. She roared in acknowledgment and flew after the fleeing Autozamians.

Ascot noticed an open-air bridge that crossed over to a larger, better lit landing platform, and started heading that way. The smog blurred his vision, but before he had gone too far, he realized that he recognized the patterns of light on the ground and the building up ahead. _That's the one! I found it!_ Ascot tried to coax his weary legs to run, but instead had to settle for a brisk walk.

"Stop him! Don't let him get away!"

Ascot recognized the strained voice and turned to see the cruel Autozamian officer from earlier. Now, the older man's face was purple with fury, sickening to see. The adrenaline kicked in again and let Ascot resume running.

Something small bounced on the platform and landed in from of Ascot. Surprised, he took several steps backwards.

The small orb exploded. Ascot jumped back and tried to shield his face from the flames with his hands. Then, he heard a loud snap and felt the ground shift under his feet. He dropped his sleeve from his eyes and realized that the bridge had broken. It was falling. Before he could collect himself enough to think, he was plummeting and found it hard to do anything but scream. He felt his hat leave his head and grasped uselessly after it. The lights along the sides of the buildings started to blur together, dizzyingly. Then everything was slowly quenched by blackness . . .


	2. The Palace of Cephiro

_I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth. It is the creation of the wonderful CLAMP._

_Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I think this update should make up for it. I was just going to post the next scene, but the third scene is so short that I decided to tack it on, too. So, here you are. In the meantime, I'll be working on proofing the next section, and celebrating my finals being over. Whoohoo!_

_Happy reading!

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**Scars**

_by Maelstra_

**Scene 2: The Palace of Cephiro**

Fuu, Umi, and Hikaru appeared in Cephiro right when they were expected. By now, they had the knack for visualizing where they wanted to appear – no more materializing high up in the sky, miles above land! They had chosen to go right to the throne room in the crystalline castle at the heart of the magical land.

Prince Ferio, wearing his elegant white robes as usual, was busying himself with some reports of the villages. As soon as he noticed Fuu, his face lit up, and he tossed the reports aside. "How are you?" he asked gently, immediately going over to the blond girl.

"We've all been quite well, Ferio," Fuu answered, smiling and blushing faintly.

"Are you the only one here today, Ferio?" Hikaru asked while stretching her arms behind her head.

"No . . . hm. Clef was here just a minute ago." He glanced around the room, then shrugged and put back on a smile. "He'll be back. So, why are you all wearing your uniforms again?"

"Oh, we had school today." Umi flipped her long, blue hair back over her shoulders. "We decided we wanted to come straight to Cephiro instead of changing clothes first."

"How's Eagle doing?" Hikaru piped up. Whenever she visited, if this was not her first question, then it was usually her second.

Ferio patted her shoulder reassuringly. "He's doing extremely well. Clef thinks he should wake up very soon."

"Today?" The girls all looked excited.

"Maybe. But at any rate, you ought to go and tell him 'hi.' I think he'll be quite curious to hear what you've been up to."

"Not much," Umi said. "After all, hasn't it just been a week since we last came?"

"Has it?" Ferio straightened up and raised his eyebrows. "Hm. It seems that Clef was right that the time between our worlds has still not totally synchronized. At present, it seems time is running much faster here. It's actually been almost two months since your last visit."

"What? Really?" Hikaru scratched her head. "So, does that mean we can stay twice as long before anyone at home notices?"

Ferio scratched his head as well. "Um . . . I think you'd better ask Clef on that one. You wouldn't want to guess wrong and then make your families worry."

"Of course," Fuu nodded. "The magic here makes Cephiro marvelous . . . but a bit confusing."

"Heh. Yeah – I sometimes find it a bit confusing myself." Ferio smiled, once again directing his full attention on Fuu.

She did not seem to mind. "So, Prince Ferio – what have you been doing for the past few months?"

"Nothing very interesting," he drawled, waving a hand at his invisible problems. "I've been trying to do what you and Clef suggested – get the villages to mostly govern themselves. The people are so used to relying on a pillar, though, that they are having a hard time adapting." Ferio shook his head. "Everyday, I get at least a dozen people coming to me and complaining because they can't figure out what it is I want them to do."

"Oh my. Do you have to handle all the complaints yourself?"

"Most of them. Like I said, it's just because they aren't sure what to do without a pillar, so they look to me as being the most likely person to be in charge."

"Why don't they talk to Clef or Lafarga . . . or even Lantis?" Umi interrupted.

"We're getting there . . ." Ferio chuckled. "But, unfortunately, those three are also very busy all the time, too. In fact, both Lafarga and Lantis are away at the moment, visiting the other nearby worlds. Lafarga and Ascot left just this morning to go visit the Autozamian capitol."

"Oh!" Hikaru's face brightened. "So, are you working on helping Autozam cure their environmental problems?"

"We're still taking the first steps . . . In spite of all Geo's help, we've had a hard time coming to an agreement with their government about what to do. Most of the Autozamians want our help badly, but apparently a few vocal people are worried that Cephiro will try to reciprocate for Autozam's attempted invasion."

"Cephiro would never do that!" Fuu protested, upset. "Why can't they see that all Cephiro wants is peace?"

"Oh, don't worry." Ferio tried to disarm their fears. "They'll figure it out soon enough. Some people are just a little too paranoid for their own good."

Fuu noticed a trace of an emotion flicker through Ferio's eyes at his last statement. "Is something the matter, Ferio?"

"Hm?" His face was instantly set, looking calm and careless.

A little too carefully set. "Prince Ferio . . . you seem to be worried about something," Fuu said slowly and deliberately.

"I – no . . . I guess I'm still thinking about a . . . recent incident. It's nothing though – we already got things all resolved, and no real damage was done . . ."

"Can't we help you with any-?"

"No. It's fine. It's nothing you lovely ladies should have to concern yourselves with." At the last, he gave a particularly meaningful glance to Fuu, trying to distract her.

Fuu was not convinced, but Hikaru was. "Well, so can we go see Eagle now?"

"Of course. I have something else I need to discuss with Clef, so you all should go ahead." Ferio waved as he started walking off to look for the young-looking mage. "I'll at least see you again by dinner." Then, he was immediately out of sight.

"Goodness – he's certainly busy now," Umi commented. "No time to roam about in forests anymore."

"I imagine that there's less need for patrolling the forests, now that most of the monsters are gone . . ." Fuu bit her lip.

Umi poked her. "Come on, stop worrying so much. If Ferio says he's fine, he's fine. He's just worrying about the Cephiran people, and trying to take as good care of them as his sister did. It's nothing he can't handle."

"Okay." Fuu made an effort to push aside her concerns and smile for the benefit of her two friends. "Shall we go see Eagle-san?"

* * *

_Ah, Hikaru – it's so good to hear you again. It's been a while. _Eagle was still unconscious and confined to his bed, but the magic Clef had woven over him let him hear what was said to him, and also let him respond by telepathy. 

Hikaru found this kind of communication fascinating, but confusing. She had once asked Clef why all Cephirans didn't talk this way, since their magic seemed to allow it – but Clef had told her that only Autozamians had the right kind of gift to transmit their mental energy so that others could hear them. While Hikaru still wondered why this was the case, she had decided that she would at least be happy that Eagle could hear her, and she him, even though she did not exactly understand why it worked.

Meanwhile, Umi took it upon herself to explain the time passage. ". . . and so it seems like it was longer to you guys than it was to us."

_That's interesting. Didn't you say that your first two visits to Cephiro seemed to take no time at all in your world?_

"Yes, Eagle-san. But now, the flow of time between our two worlds seems to be moving towards perfect synchronization."

_I suppose that the results of the pillar test and Mokuba's decision must be having an effect on all the existing worlds. _Eagle frowned ever so faintly in his sleep. _I wonder what effect this is all having on Autozam._

"Well – Ferio said they've sent people to Autozam to look at their problem," Hikaru piped up.

_Yes – I was told that Lafarga and Ascot were going. I was just wondering . . . well, maybe there is no reason that the time between Cephiro and Autozam would change. It seems to be synchronized right now, anyway, as far as I know . . ._

Fuu stared down at the sleeping blond for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. Finally, she asked, "Eagle-san, does Ferio ever talk to you about the problems of Cephiro?"

_Ferio and the others do occasionally tell me of current events – more to keep me from getting bored than because those things have any influence on me. _He paused briefly. _Actually, is there a reason you ask that? This morning, I thought I sensed a major disturbance in the castle . . . but no one has said a word about it to me. I may have been mistaken._

"I thought there was something he wasn't telling us." Fuu felt vindicated. "Why is he trying to protect us? We helped fight for Cephiro's safety after all . . ."

Eagle laughed, telepathically. _Fuu, I can think of at least one very good reason why Ferio would want to protect you._

She blushed immediately. "But still – if there's anything I can do, I want to help him!"

All in the room were silent for a moment; even Eagle seemed to be thinking – or perhaps just resting. The silence stretched on so long that finally Umi glanced at her companions and they started to leave quietly. Just before they made it to the door, Eagle telepathically commented, _The disturbing presence – I think it's still here. It was in the throne room this morning, but now I can sense it flickering around the basements._

"Hey, great! We can go take a look ourselves and find out what's going on," Umi approved.

Hikaru considered this. "Yeah, we should go. Maybe Ferio didn't mention it because he thought it went away – but if it's still here, we Magic Knights should definitely go check it out!"

"Yes." Fuu nodded. "Thank you, Eagle-san."

_It's moving faster now, so perhaps you should hurry._

"Right. Thanks, Eagle!" Hikaru led the charge out the door.

Eagle's last message was so strong they could hear it even in the hall. _Be careful!

* * *

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**Scene 3: Back on Autozam**

Bad, bad smells. Smoke mostly, that choked and scratched. And something soft – the soft thing smelled nicer. It smelled alive, like forests, and a little like cinnamon.

Finally Ascot opened his eyes, and all he could see was dark fur – but after a moment, he recognized the fur. "Mimi?" he croaked, his raw throat protesting speech.

Mimi growled comfortingly.

Ascot sighed and hugged her tighter. "Thank you. I didn't know what – without you, I –"

Mimi rumbled again, then asked Ascot what he was doing in such a wretched place anyway.

"I . . . and Lafarga, we came here . . . to talk to the people." Ascot leaned back from Mimi to view his surroundings. They were sitting on a block of cracked, blackened concrete. Up above, all he could see were the stalks of buildings disappearing up into smog. "I've got to get back to Lafarga," he groaned. Reluctantly, he climbed out of Mimi's lap and stood up. He felt fine, and so had probably only fainted while falling – luckily Mimi had caught him before he suffered any serious injury. He looked up again and tried to imagine how high the tops of the buildings were. Then he considering sneaking into elevators and running around again. _I'm too tired for any more of this. But even as bad as this air is, I think Mimi's a strong enough flier . . ._

Mimi grunted interrogatively.

Ascot sighed. "Mimi, I need to get back to the top again. Can you fly me?"

Mimi grunted, offended at the notion that she might not be able to carry her little master up a few thousand feet. She growled to ask Ascot if he were up to the task.

"I think I'll be alright. I know a spell to help with sudden altitude gain . . ."

Mimi snorted derisively. She didn't need any magic to help her fly. Then, without further conversation, she grabbed the skinny boy in two paws and leapt up to take off.

Once Ascot caught his breath, he started chanting the words to the spell. It was actually meant for diving, but Ascot assumed it could work for the other direction as well. As soon as he got the spell in place, his ears popped painfully, but then everything seemed to be stable.

Mimi continued pumping her wings, and soon the ground was completely invisible in the heavy smog.

Ascot tried to cover his face in his sleeve. As bad as the low-level smog had been, the middle level was even worse. _How do the Autozamians ever survive breathing air like this?!_ Then Ascot realized that they probably didn't breathe this air – the whole time he had been here, most of the people he'd seen were inside the buildings. And all those who were outside wore a scarf or something over their faces. _This situation really is terrible. They need help. But how can Cephiro help them if they won't let us?!_

Mimi suddenly veered for a mid-level balcony and landed. She coughed violently, her whole body shaking and her hands convulsively clenching Ascot tighter.

"Are you okay?" he tried to yell, but his sleeve muffled his voice. Hesitantly, he uncovered his face and tried his question again.

In response, Mimi only grumbled, then jumped and started flying again.

Ascot re-covered his face and clung tightly to Mimi's hairy torso. She seemed to be putting all her strength into flying as fast as she could manage. Ascot sighed, feeling useless. Clef had taught him a number of useful spells, but none of them could help a person breathe freely in a toxic atmosphere. As the moments passed, then air changed from a murky brown to almost clear with a faint orange cast. Then Mimi landed again.

"Maybe you'd better rest a moment," Ascot said, carefully stroking Mimi's arm. The more he watched her gasp for breath, though, the more worried he became. "Actually, Mimi, maybe you'd better go home."

Mimi raised up in indignation, insulted that her master was implying that she was too tired. She growled a protest.

"We're most of the way there, Mimi. Look – I think I see the platform I need. It's just a few more levels up." Ascot actually was pretty sure that the lit platform he pointed to was the correct one. If he squinted, he thought he could see the remaining stump from the bridge his pursuers had destroyed. "I have a better chance of making it there if I sneak up by myself, anyway."

Mimi was not convinced. She rumbled and asked Ascot how he intended to deal with the armed, Autozamian psychopaths if they came back.

"They saw me fall . . . I'm pretty sure they at least wouldn't expect me to come back so soon."

Utterly a sarcastic croon, Mimi shook her head and crossed her arms firmly. Then, she was suddenly wracked by more deep coughing.

Ascot made a quick decision. "You have to go home. Don't worry about me – I'll be just fine." Before he finished talking, he started weaving the spell. The circle of summoning appeared beneath Mimi's feet.

Mimi wailed in protest, but she had been caught off guard. The spell swallowed her up and sent her immediately back to Cephiro.

For a moment, Ascot stared at the spot where Mimi had been. Already he felt lonelier and more overwhelmed at the thought of proceeding alone. _I had no choice. She wasn't thinking of her own health at all . . ._ Ascot found the sole doorway on the balcony, pressed a switch to make it slide open, and quickly stepped inside.


	3. The Basement of Cephiro

_I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth. It is the creation of the wonderful CLAMP._

_I got through proofing this one so quickly that I decided to put it up early. So now, the action's finally starting to pick up. Yay!_

_I'm tired, so I have nothing more clever to say for now. Good night!_

_

* * *

_

**Scars**

_by Maelstra_

**Scene 4: The Basement of Cephiro**

"I think it must have already left," Umi declared as she sank onto an old sofa with an exhausted sigh.

"We don't know exactly what we're looking for, Umi-san. Any number of things could easily be hiding amongst all this clutter." Fuu gestured at the hodgepodge of objects that littered this particular basement chamber. They had found books, desks, tables, pianos, life-size elephant sculptures, soap boxes, and a three-necked cello – all just clustered right around the door.

"Fuu's right. They could be hiding a whole Mashin in here!" Hikaru stretched and yawned. "But, as long as it didn't move, we'd never ever notice it!"

"Maybe we should try asking Ferio again," Fuu admitted, a bit disappointed.

"Yeah, since it might not be anything worth worrying about . . . anyway . . . ?" Umi trailed off.

The other two girls were instantly alert as well. "I sense a presence," Hikaru whispered, puzzled. Fuu nodded in agreement.

Umi looked around the chaotic room, but could see no one besides themselves. Quickly, she grew frustrated. "Hey, whoever you are! Show yourself!"

Fuu frowned. "Umi, that's not very polite . . ."

"Aah!" Hikaru pointed.

The girls stared at the figure walking towards them, unable to explain why they had not seen her before. She looked very close to their own age, and even wore a school uniform as well. Her purple hair was twisted up into two elegant loops behind her ears, and her whole appearance was rather becoming – except for her face. Her eyes were cold, and her mouth was sloped permanently downward. She walked until she was only two armspans away from the girls, and then she suddenly stopped and regarded them critically.

"Um, hi. I'm Hikaru. What are you doing here?" Hikaru took several steps forward and extended her hand in greeting.

The violet-haired girl only glowered back. Hikaru was so surprised by this reaction she froze and let her hand fall back down to her side.

Finally, the stranger spoke. "What are you doing in Cephiro?"

"What do you mean, what are we doing here?" Umi was offended at the girl's attitude. "We have friends here! We have as much a right to be here as you do!"

The girl looked as though this response puzzled her, then her eyes turned angry. "You should leave. You Earth people don't belong here."

"What . . . ?" Hikaru scratched her head. "But aren't you from Earth, too? No one on Cephiro seems to dress like that . . . If we're not supposed to be here, then what are you doing here?"

The mysterious girl turned and started walking away. She said something more, but too softly for the other girls to hear.

"Wait!" Hikaru chased after the girl, following her between an aisle of tall furniture. Umi and Fuu shook themselves out of their surprise and followed. Hikaru abruptly skidded to a stop, and Fuu and Umi ran into her.

"Ouch! Hikaru, what are you doing?" Umi moaned, rubbing her arm.

"But the . . . it's a dead end."

Umi and Fuu peered around Hikaru and verified that the aisle did indeed suddenly end in a high wall of boxes. Umi scowled. "So then, where did that weird girl go?"

"Magic . . ." Fuu muttered. She slowly tilted her head to look up at the ceiling. "In Cephiro, if one had a sufficiently strong will, couldn't one change one's locations in an instant?"

"Huh? I don't think I'm following you, Fuu," Umi said.

"It's just . . . I can't sense her presence anymore. It's like she didn't just hide – instead, she actually left the basements entirely."

"But, we can't usually 'sense' people like that . . . can we?" Hikaru asked. "I mean . . . I felt something when she appeared. But that's not normal, right?"

"I've never felt anything like that before," Fuu agreed. "So it implies that she is somehow unlike normal people."

"I wonder though . . . why would we have such a connection to her?" Umi mused.

Hikaru perked up. "Maybe it's because we're from the same world? We've never met another human here before, after all."

"You have a good point," Fuu nodded.

Umi interrupted suddenly, "So, wait gals. Is she the disturbance from this morning that was worrying Ferio?"

Hikaru slowly started walking back out of the aisle. "She didn't seem like a threat. I wonder why Ferio would worry."

"She needs an attitude adjustment," Umi sniffed. "Who's she to say who belongs in Cephiro and who doesn't?"

"Yeah . . ." Hikaru said to herself. She led the way toward the exit, but then froze suddenly. "Hey . . . did you feel that?"

"Feel . . . what?" Umi asked.

"I . . . thought I felt something, Hikaru-san. Like a sudden chill. But maybe – no! She's back, upstairs."

"You're right." Umi stiffened.

They ran upstairs again. The palace of Cephiro had many flights of stairs, and only one central elevator which didn't even cover all the floors. The three girls raced up the spiraling, marble steps as fast as they could, although Umi stumbled and almost fell at one point. Hikaru, the fastest, took the lead, and as she reached the landing of the uppermost basement, instead of heading for the elevator beside the stairwell, she ran down the long, pale hall toward one of the audience chambers.

"Where are you going?" Umi yelled, skidding to a puzzled stop.

Fuu froze a moment as well. "Umi – Hikaru-san's right!" Fuu broke into a run after the red-haired girl. After a moment, Umi collected herself and started running again.

Hikaru burst through the tall, double doors, with Umi and Fuu right behind her. Surprise gripped them as soon as they entered the room. The purple-haired girl was indeed here. As was Ferio. The prince carried his large, curved sword that the magic knights had seen him carry when they had first met him, and he currently held it before himself defensively. Ferio was a strong warrior in his own right, but he was currently breathing heavily, and several large areas of his white robes were stained red from his own blood.

The purple-haired stranger seemed untouched. She had a long, slender sword – so very similar to Hikaru's personal blade – and as the magic knights watched in shock, she charged Ferio again.

Her strike was lightning fast, but Ferio parried it – barely. She immediately countered with a slash at his head, then his feet, then his sword arm. Ferio jumped back and reflexively clutched his arm. Apparently the injury was not bad, because after only a short pause he charged forward and tried to catch the girl with a quick strike.

She dodged, easily. Ferio's attacks looked swift and graceful when he was dealing with monsters, but this stranger's speed and agility made the prince's every move look clumsy. The girl ducked, dodged, spun, and then struck, cutting Ferio across the chest. His sword slipped out of his fingers as he staggered backwards.

For all the action, only seconds had passed since the magic knights opened the door. "We have to do something!" Fuu gasped, her face turning white. Without thinking, she charged forward, and Hikaru and Umi flanked her. Every time the magic knights returned to their own world, their magical gifts from Cephiro were left behind. When they had returned to save Cephiro during the battle for the pillarship, Clef had reawakened the gifts, but he had not any of the subsequent times they had returned to visit Cephiro.

Fully aware that she could stand no chance in this battle without armor and without a weapon, Fuu nevertheless tried to cling to one hope. With all her heart, she willed her hidden magic to return to her – the magic that Clef had woken for her twice, but she did not know how to wake on her own. "Wind . . ." Fuu faltered, not sure what to summon – and still even doubting that she could summon anything. She closed her eyes and tried to block out doubts; Ferio needed her. "Wind . . . Collision!" As silly as it sounded, the desperate spell worked. Fuu opened her eyes and watched the stranger be thrown backwards into the far wall by the magical gust.

"Fuu . . ." Ferio whispered, only then noticing her presence. "G-get out. It's too dangerous for you . . ."

"No!" Fuu whispered back, hurried to his side and trying to steady him. "I can't just leave you like this."

"Why are you doing this?!" Hikaru yelled at the purple girl. "Why do you want to hurt Ferio?!"

The strange girl got back on her feet quickly. She shook herself, and then gripped her sword before her in an attack grip. "He is prince of Cephiro. That is reason enough." Then, her sword began to glow an unhealthy red-violet. "Explosion Lightning!" Then, she released her spell. Its name quite accurately described the attack.

Hikaru regained consciousness first and quickly staggered back to her feet. She saw that Umi and Fuu were still out, and that meanwhile the purple-haired girl had crossed the room and now stood with her sword held above the unconscious prince's head. "No!" Hikaru summoned all the energy she could find, and charged and tackled the girl. "Don't you dare!"

They tumbled, the girl's sword clattering away in the struggle, and finally the stranger ended up pinned under Hikaru. The girl growled, and with a burst of inhuman strength threw Hikaru off. Hikaru broke her fall by landing in a roll and then sprang back to her feet. The stranger tried to lunge for her sword, but Hikaru blocked her, kicking her back.

The girl scowled and tried again, but Hikaru blocked her every effort, kicking or punching as fast as she could move. Finally Umi and Fuu also regained consciousness, and when they saw what was going on, they rushed to Hikaru's side and stood at ready.

At last, the girl grew frustrated. "Why do you defend him?"

"His sister, Princess Emeraude, summoned us here as Magic Knights. After we . . . fulfilled Emeraude's wishes, we wanted to come back to this world, to be with our friends," Hikaru explained.

Umi joined in. "Prince Ferio helped us before, and he is one of our good friends. We absolutely won't let anyone get away with hurting him, or any of our other friends."

"Please, why are you doing this? There's been enough pain and suffering in Cephiro already," Fuu pled.

The strange girl stared. "You're . . . you're all serious. I . . . I . . ."

Hikaru tried to approach the girl in truce again. "Please tell us your name. We want there to be peace and happiness for all the people in Cephiro."

Just as before, the girl backed away. "I don't understand you people!" she growled, angry. She spun around and started stomping away. Midstep, she started turning translucent – then after two more paces, she had completely disappeared.

"Wha–? What the –?" Umi sputtered.

Hikaru cocked her head in confusion. "I can't sense her anymore. I guess she's gone again."

"Ferio? Ferio! Are you alright?" Fuu was much more concerned with the prince than the strange girl. Though she shook his shoulder, he did not stir. His breathing had gotten weaker, and his face was very pale.

"Can you heal him?" Umi asked.

"I . . . I don't know. I know I've cast the healing spell many times before . . . but it's like I can't remember the words." Fuu nevertheless closed her eyes to try anyway. Light shimmered around her hands for a moment, but much too soon flickered away. "I . . . can't do it. I need Clef to help me reawaken the spells . . ."

"Hey, that's a good idea!" Hikaru perked up. "Let's call Clef! If we all focus our will at the same time, it should work."

The girls agreed to try, and all clasped hands together. Almost as soon as they started, Clef burst through the door. "Magic Knights, what's the matter? I thought I sensed your –"

Fuu uncharacteristically interrupted the diminutive mage. "Please, Guru Clef! You have to help Ferio! I can't remember how to use my healing magic . . ."

Clef's eyes widened as he noticed the state of the prince. Without further question, he ran to Ferio's side and started muttering healing spells.

"What happened here?" Lafarga asked as he entered the room after Clef, his face plainly reflecting his shock.

Umi attempted to explain concisely, "There was this crazy girl who appeared out of nowhere, and she started attacking Ferio but wouldn't say why. Then, when we attacked her, she just got scared and ran away."

"I don't think she left because she was scared of us," Fuu corrected quietly, still not taking her eyes off of Ferio.

"Anyway," Umi huffed, "We don't know what she was doing because she'd hardly say a word to us. She wouldn't even tell us her name."

"But how could she penetrate the defenses of the castle?" Lafarga wondered, very concerned. "Wouldn't the guards have seen her come in?"

"She can disappear and reappear anywhere she wants," Hikaru told him. "We saw her, just now – she just melted away into thin air."

Clef paused in his ministrations of the prince. "She disappeared? That's very disturbing . . ."

Silence took the place of the conversation. Clef went back to healing Ferio, who by now looked a better color, but was still breathing weakly.

Umi finally broke the awkward silence by turning to Lafarga. "So, when did you get back from Autozam?"

"Just a moment ago. I was explaining the outcome to Clef when he suddenly sensed your call."

"Huh. What lucky timing. So . . . where's Ascot?"

Lafarga hesitated, his expression turning even more serious. "Umi, we . . . ran into some . . . difficulties on our trip . . ."


	4. On the 139th Floor

_I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth. It is the creation of the wonderful CLAMP._

_Shorter update this time because the next section is proving tricky to work out to my liking. I hope you don't mind too much. Enjoy, and have a nice weekend.

* * *

_

**Scars**

_by Maelstra_

**Scene 5: On the 139****th**** Floor**

With a sigh, Ascot leaned against the outside wall; the landing platform was empty. _Why would Lafarga leave without me? Did he see me fall?_ Ascot let his shock wrap around him for several minutes. At last, he tried to look at his situation detachedly. _Maybe the pilot of the ship refused to wait any longer – I delayed Lafarga a lot anyway . . . So . . . what can I do now?_

This was a thorny problem. There were no ships in Ascot's immediate vicinity – and even if he were crazy enough to try to borrow one, he doubted he'd have any chance at figuring out how to fly it. So then . . . the only way back to Cephiro was to find someone willing to fly him there. But who? _I wonder if that mean old Autozamian still has the soldiers out hunting for me. Or – what if they gave up because they saw me fall?_ That finally gave Ascot some hope. _If everyone isn't out for my blood, then maybe I can find someone who will help me._

Ascot had a very short list of Autozamians that he knew: Eagle, who was still on Cephiro and so didn't count; Geo Metro, a friend of Eagle's who had arranged Lafarga and Ascot's trip in the first place; and Zazu, a hyperactive mechanic, another friend of Eagle's. Zazu, Ascot could not guess how to find. But Geo . . . Ascot recalled the man had said he worked in the hanger of the Motive Towers when he wasn't out on assignment. Geo would certainly give Ascot a hand. The big problem was that finding a single person on this unfamiliar world, even in a specific location, might not be easy. Regardless, it was Ascot's best chance.

"Actually," he muttered under his breath, "it's probably my only chance."

The next several hours passed rather depressingly. Ascot felt more and more hungry, tired, and lonely for anyone who would feel sorry for him. He first retraced his steps back down the tower, then tried to find a place with ordinary people. The hallways of the tower he was in were wide, tall . . . and mostly empty. He had to descend fifty floors before he encountered his first other person: a tall, stiff man with a couple of military-looking medals pinned to his shirt. The man was approaching Ascot face-on, but his eyes were unwaveringly fixed at a distant point before him. This was a small comfort because something about the man, in his face or form, reminded Ascot of the malevolent Autozamian officer from before. Ascot sucked up his breath and held it, trying to pass the man making as little noise as possible. He could feel his hands start to tremble as the man came closer – but then the soldier continued on, not breaking pace or even giving Ascot more of a cursory glance.

Ascot gasped in relief, making more noise than he intended to as he finally started breathing again. Immediately, he choked up again, worried that the other would find his behavior suspicious. For this reason, Ascot did not allow himself to look back, and instead just continued to the end of the hall, and immediately turned the corner and started to run as quietly as he could manage.

About a half hour later, after sneaking down an obviously long-unused staircase, Ascot found some people: non-military people. They were in a humongous room – at least the size of Cephiro's throne room – and they were all working around a large half-dome that was nestled into the floor and ringed about by mysterious mechanical devices.

Ascot walked up to them, his exhaustion letting him override his normal shyness. "Um – eh – excuse me? Do you live here . . . ?" Half a dozen people turned his way and gave him strange looks. Ascot decided to try a different tactic. He could already feel himself starting to flush from embarrassment. "Um . . . See, I'm not from around here . . . this tower, you know, and um . . . I was trying to find a friend, but I think I'm a little lost . . ."

"I should say so," a gruff, burly man answered. "This is an air treatment plant. Non-personnel aren't allowed in here." His expression became increasingly suspicious.

Ascot gaped a moment, then tried to recover quickly. "Um . . . yes, of course. See – that's why I'm lost. Obviously . . . I'm not supposed to be in here, right?"

"Where's this friend of yours supposed to be?" the man asked with a scowl.

"Oh . . . well . . . he just told me that he works in the Motive Towers . . ."

"Oh – Motive Towers, is it?" Suddenly, the man relaxed. "Oh, I see. So you just took the wrong stop on the subway, didn't you?"

"Well . . . I'm not sure I remember exactly how I got to this place . . . but, could you please tell me how to get to the Motive Towers from here?"

All of the workers but the one speaking went back to whatever they had been doing before, satisfied that Ascot was only scatterbrained and not a threat. The gruff guy snorted, snatched up a piece of paper and a writing stick from under a console, and started drawing a rough map. "No offense, but anyone who can't read the subway signs probably can't remember my directions. There now!" He gave Ascot the map. "That should be plenty clear enough. You just go straight through that hallway, up the third escalator, then take the elevator down to the eighth floor, cross the Amber skyway, hop on the moving walkway . . ."

Ascot did his best to remember what the man said, but he quickly became confused. He tried to follow along on the map, and hoped that at least would get him to where he wanted to go.

". . . and then you should reach the main offices, and then they can deal with you from there." The man paused and grinned. "Hey – you haven't by chance been out in the atmosphere recently, have ya?"

"Uh . . . actually, yes."

"Ah – that explains a lot. Look kid – no matter what the other guys say, it isn't macho – or smart. Folks in the older areas are still dropping from air poisoning. This is a serious problem, and even though they say Cephiro's trying to fix it, things still haven't changed. Okay?"

"Okay . . . ?" Ascot could make no sense of what the man had just said. His instinct was to admit everything then and there, explain that he was from Cephiro and that some crazy Autozamian had a thing against him. Fortunately, the old man at that moment gave him a hard slap on the shoulder and then turned away, back to his work. Ascot stumbled and took a step forward. "Um . . . thank you." The man only waved in acknowledgment, not turning around again. He pulled out a headband thing from a drawer, stuck it around his head. Ascot winced as the man did so, but could not turn away, some morbid fascination forcing him to watch even though the sight bothered him. The guy then took some wires and plugged them in, first into the headband and then into the computer. Then he just started staring off into space. Ascot gaped in horror, just the sight of it making him nauseous. At last, he broke from his paralysis and quickly fled from the room.

He broke into a run once he reached an empty hallway, and ran until the sight of the man melding his brain with the computer gradually faded from Ascot's mind. Finally he slowed, and massaged his head which had begun to throb. After a moment, Ascot unfolded the map and starting trying to figure out where he needed to go.


	5. In Confusion in Cephiro

_I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth. It is the creation of the wonderful CLAMP._

_Have a nice day!

* * *

_

**Scars**

_by Maelstra_

**Scene 6: In Confusion in Cephiro**

Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu wandered down a long, marble hallway, lost in thought and not really talking to each other. Clef had reassured them that Prince Ferio should be alright, and they had already helped take the prince back up to his room to rest. As there was nothing the girls could do for Ferio at the moment, and since the dangerous stranger currently seemed to be nowhere nearby, the girls had gone to visit Eagle again.

_Did you ask Clef to restore your magic?_ Eagle asked after the girls briefly explained what had transpired.

"Ah! I forgot!" Hikaru slapped her forehead. "Clef was so busy trying to heal Ferio . . ."

"We'd better ask him the next time we see him," Umi said firmly. "I don't know why she left us alone this time, but next time we might not be so lucky!"

_I'm so sorry I sent you girls into such danger._ Though he couldn't really speak, some sorrow still crept out in his words.

"It's okay, Eagle-san. We could not have known before – even though we saw her in the basement, we had no idea she was a threat until she attacked Ferio . . ."

"But why did she attack Ferio? It makes no sense!" Umi fumed. "Yes, like she said, he's the prince of Cephiro – but he's a good prince! He cares about the people, and he does his best to ensure they're all happy. What's so wrong with that?!"

_Maybe . . . hm . . . _

"What is it?" Hikaru prompted Eagle.

_Well, on Autozam . . . there are some people who will try to gain more power – through somewhat unscrupulous methods. I had wondered if this girl might be the same – but according to what you have told me, it doesn't sound like she's after the throne herself. It's more like she's . . . angry._

"Angry with whom?" Umi planted her hands on her hips. "She didn't seem to know Ferio personally." Her eyes widened as she got an idea. "Do you think she was angry with Emeraude, and she's just taking it out on Ferio since he's her brother?"

"That . . . is an interesting idea, Umi-san." Fuu tapped a finger to her chin. "If that's the case, we should talk to Clef right away since he may have some idea what this girl would be angry with Emeraude about."

Hikaru nodded emphatically. "Yeah. Let's go!" She and Fuu headed straight for the door. Just before she turned the knob, she looked back with a puzzled expression. "Umi, aren't you coming to talk to Clef?"

"I . . . just a minute. There was something I wanted to ask Eagle. You two go ahead."

Fuu nodded, understanding. "Let's go, Hikaru-san." She gently nudged her puzzled friend out the door.

Once the door clicked shut again, Eagle mentally asked, _Is there some other problem?_

"Yes, Eagle. You see . . ." Umi hesitated, and bit her lip. "You remember that Lafarga and Ascot went on an expedition to Autozam?"

_. . . Yes, I remember._

"Well, it's just . . . you know how the Autozamians think, and I just wondered . . . if there was any chance . . ."

Eagle caught on that something was very wrong, and asked in an urgent telepathic tone, _Umi – what exactly happened?_

"Well, it's . . ." Umi finally started blurting everything out. "Lafarga and Ascot tried to go talk to the leaders, but some guy said they were changing orders and were supposed to kill them. And then they ran and they got separated, and Lafarga said he wasn't sure but it looked like an explosion knocked Ascot off one of the towers . . ." Umi paused for breath briefly. "And then the pilot of the ship wouldn't wait any longer, and he brought Lafarga straight back here."

_What? Wait, so they __attacked__ them? But . . ._ Eagle trailed off abruptly, keeping all his thoughts to himself for a moment.

Umi sighed and folded her arms. "So I was just wondering if the Autozamians . . . might take prisoners or something . . . I guess it's silly of me to think that. But, Ascot does know a little magic – so I guess I don't want to give up hope that he could still be alright."

_Never give up hope, Umi._ If Eagle could have sighed, he would have. _I'm so sorry. I would call them right now and demand an explanation . . . if I only could._

"No, don't be sad, Eagle – I know it's not your fault." Umi shook her head even though she knew Eagle couldn't see her. "I'm sorry I brought it up – I shouldn't worry you when I should know there's nothing you can do."

_No, I think I need to know this. I can't imagine . . . is Autozam __trying__ to provoke a war with Cephiro? I thought they wouldn't try anything stupid while I was still here. It seems I might have been wrong . . ._

"What do you mean? Are you saying that Autozam has been planning to attack Cephiro all along?" Umi grew alarmed.

_Umi – have you so quickly forgotten why __I__ am here? I came here planning to use whatever force necessary to become pillar – remember? Autozam has long hoped that by conquering Cephiro, we might gain the means to cure our atmosphere. My invasion was only one of several invasion attempts – and the only attempt to completely succeed._

"What happened during the other attempts?"

_I . . . don't know about all of them, but . . . Well, relatively recently, there were a couple of invasions led to Cephiro by the Supreme General of Autozam. I heard that, the first time, the ship that the Supreme General piloted made it through, but none of the others could follow, so he called the invasion off. Then, after Cephiro retaliated, they went back again, but even the Supreme General couldn't get through that time . . ._

"Wait – so Cephiro retaliated against Autozam? But why? Autozam didn't even do anything that first time, did they?"

_That is . . . merely what I was told._

Umi shook her head in disbelief, not quite able to comprehend all the intricacies of this political tangle. "So Autozam has been planning to invade again all along? You knew about this, and you didn't tell us!"

_Umi, please! I was not trying to betray Cephiro! I really thought that Autozam would leave Cephiro alone as long as they still got the help they needed! My father is the President of the Autozam Republic, and I thought that he would keep anyone from taking military actions against Cephiro, at least as long as I am here . . ._

"Hmph," Umi grunted, unconvinced. "That doesn't explain anything, though: you're here, in Cephiro's care; and Cephiro has agreed to give Autozam what they wanted. So, why would Autozam turn on Cephiro now?"

_I don't know!_ Eagle sounded sincerely frustrated. _I can't even guess! If I could only talk to them . . ._

"Can't you just ask Geo or someone else to relay a message to your father for you?"

_It's not the same. Most Autozamians would be overly suspicious. After all, just because you tell them the message is from me, there's no way you can actually prove that you didn't just make it all up and claim that I said it. Even my father would be unlikely to believe you without some sort of concrete proof._

"Well, that's just great. What are we supposed to do then?" Umi snapped.

Eagle stayed quiet a long time. Long enough that Umi regretted the harshness of her words. "I'm sorry, Eagle. I really have no right to be taking my frustrations out on you."

_It's okay, I understand. I'm sorry that I'm proving so useless._

"No, Eagle, I'm sorry. I'm just so confused . . ." Umi took a deep breath and turned away. "I should go catch up with the others, and see if Clef knows anything about that strange girl." She hesitated by the door. "And maybe Clef will have some idea of what we should do about Autozam, too."

_I really hope so. Take care, Umi. And please – if you think of any way I might help Cephiro, please let me know._

"Sure, Eagle." Umi ducked into the hall and ran, trying to make it to Clef's study before her tangled worries caught up to her.


	6. After Half a Dozen Wrong Turns

_I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth. It is the creation of the wonderful CLAMP._

_I'm working on the last chapter now. I'd actually forgotten until recently that I never wrote the final scenes. It's awfully hard to jump back into a story that's been cold for months, but it was so close to the end that I couldn't stand to leave it unfinished. It may be a cheesy story, but I still like it well enough that it deserves to have an ending._

_And also, my next semester of school starts next week, and I'm hoping to have this entire story up by then. I can't guarantee it will happen, but that will at least be my goal. I may have to upload more than one scene a day – but you probably wouldn't mind that, right?

* * *

_

**Scars**

_by Maelstra_

**Scene 7: After Half a Dozen Wrong Turns**

Ascot stared down at the map and sighed. He had already spent a half hour looking, but he could not find a blue, spiral escalator. There were several green ones, and he had gone up and down a few of these, wondering if the man might have just been a floor off. It had proved futile. Ascot's headache was growing worse, and he just wanted to go home without any further delays.

This particular area had a lot more people. Most of them were dressed in huge cloaks and wore cloths covering their mouths. Some people, though, wore slightly simpler clothing, almost like that which the common people of Cephiro wore. None of them wore anything as elaborate as Ascot's green and white robes, and so by default, he stood out. And no one seemed to have regarded him hostilely yet, but the intensity of some people's stares made Ascot extremely nervous. For this reason, he did not dare ask anyone how to find either the Motive Towers or a blue escalator; it would too obviously label him as an outsider.

But as self-conscious as he was, he finally had to admit he would get no further without asking for help. He decided to pretend that he was already in Motive Towers, and ask for directions accordingly. Trying to look purposeful, Ascot crossed the current floor, and approached a woman who was standing beside the computer consoles that lined the wall. She looked older than anyone Ascot had ever seen in Cephiro, and she was presently adjusting her head cover in the reflection of the metal walls. "U-um . . . exc-cuse me, ma'am. I'm looking for G-geo Metro."

"Who?" She stopped suddenly and looked at Ascot peculiarly.

"Geo Metro. Um . . . he works somewhere in this building."

The woman yawned widely. "So check the building directory. There's a console right there." She pointed to his right, then turned around to fuss with something else, deliberately ignoring him.

Ascot looked at the console. It was just a plain computer display, without any visible keyboard or other way to input information. Then he noticed the headband that hung on a hook below the tabletop. Ascot swallowed hard, then picked up the headband. It was black, lightweight, and seemingly innocuous. He noticed on the inside the thin, silver circuitry that would touch bare skin, and could not repress a shudder. _It's horrible, horrible, horrible. But, do I have any choice? Could I get someone else to do it for me?_ Ascot glanced around him, but everyone seemed to be giving him as wide a berth as possible. _Oh . . . I can do this! No I can't. I have to do this – no, no! I . . . no. But I need to! How can I . . . ? Maybe if I don't think about what I'm doing . . ._ Ascot blocked all conscious thought from his mind, and slipped the band on, over his hair.

He heard a staticky sound (it did not seem to connect very well with his thick bangs in the way), but the static resolved itself into a monotone voice: **– Cephiran intruder on level 62, Motive Towers, beside the public access consoles. Warning to all citiz– **

Ascot yanked the band off immediately, gazed around desperately for any exit beyond the crowds of people, and then started to run. He heard shouts behind him, but did not dare to turn around. A few people tried to hinder his escape, but most dove out of the way, as though they thought him a threat. Ascot was not sure whether to be grateful or just sad about that.

Then someone behind him opened fire. Ascot gave up any efforts to be clever and just dove forward, passing between a cluster of about twenty people, gambling that the people behind him would not dare shoot civilians.

His trick seemed to work; the gunfire ceased for a moment. Now right in front of Ascot was a high, gray wall with two doorways: one was wide open and appeared to lead to a walkway; the other was labeled "staff only." Ascot charged for the latter and tried the handle. Locked, of course. Grumbling under his breath, Ascot directed a lightning spell to fry the lock.

**Kra-shoom!**

Ascot staggered back, momentarily blinded by the close-range explosion and smoke, then he forced the door open with a good shove from his shoulder. A energy bolt struck the door just beside his head. "Aaa!" Ascot ducked and hurried forward through the black cloud he had created. The hallway here was narrow and low – a bad place to try to outrun men with guns. Ascot sprinted down it anyway, as he had no other choice, but chanted quietly as he ran. Someone behind him fired several more energy bolts that sounded as though they only barely fell short.

At last, Ascot suddenly stopped, and aimed his lightning spell at the ceiling. He covered his ears barely in time. The bang was still almost deafening in the narrow space – but as Ascot had hoped, the spell made a large portion of the ceiling collapse. _That won't stop them for long, but at least it's something._ Then Ascot drew upon all his reserves of adrenaline and ran again.

The tunnel seemed to last for almost a mile, but then it finally ended at a locked, sturdily constructed steel door. The lightning spell hardly scratched the surface of it, but the inherent electricity shorted out the controls and made the door slide open just a crack. Ascot strained with both hands to push the halves of the door apart farther – finally it moved enough that he just barely got his slender body through. _That should hold any gunmen off for a while._ Something further back down the hall rumbled. _Unless of course they carried explosives, in which case they could just blow it open._

Ascot finally took a good look at the room before him. "Whoa," he gasped reflexively. "Is the castle even this big?" The room seemed to be at least as wide as the tunnel had been long, and the ceiling itself was so high as to be mostly indistinct in shadows. But what really drew Ascot's attention were the Mashin: giant, armored, robot soldiers of destruction. Ascot had seen the Mashin of the Magic Knights before (and he personally thought those were much more impressive looking) but the Autozamian creations were not to be taken lightly, either. There were fifteen of these metal giants, Ascot counted, and each stood dozens of feet high. Ascot puzzled over how one could even access them, but then he noticed the mesh-steel catwalk that ran along about even with the Mashin's stomachs. He considered climbing up there and hiding inside a Mashin, but then realized that the catwalk only connected to a doorway that was way up overhead – there were no ladders or other such things to connect the catwalk to the ground.

"He's in the landing bay! Shoot him!"

Ascot dove out of the way, accidently diving into an energy bolt and getting grazed by it above his knee. He glanced over and saw at least two people trying to force the door open, and three hands that all held guns pointed his direction.

Ascot ran towards the closest Mashin, a dark purple one that seemed to have been created with an expression of permanent disgust. Someone had apparently been trying to repair its foot, and a large metal panel had been removed and currently rested on the floor – however the was no space in the foot for Ascot to climb inside. _What can I do? Is there another door out of here?_ Ascot looked around but could see no other exit besides the one door up on the catwalk. _What am I going to do?!_

Ascot looked over at the people trying to break through the door, and saw one angry woman taking aim. He ducked just in time, and the bolt reflected off the armor of the Mashin's leg. _Do I dare to summon one of my friends? But against these weapons . . . they would surely be killed. If only __I__ could fly like Mimi._

Ascot dodged behind the leg to think – something niggled the back of his mind. _Wait – before I grew tall for Umi, didn't I fly all the time? How strange that I should forget that . . . But yes – I just used a common lump of dirt . . ._ Ascot peered around the Mashin's leg and saw the metal panel on the floor. It was just the right size for him to comfortably stand on. He waited until another two shots went by, then he leapt out, grabbed the panel, and with difficultly dragged it behind the leg again. He heard the door start to groan as it was forced wider. Ascot stood on the piece of metal, closed his eyes, and tried to focus. _Now, how did I do it? I haven't thought about it for months. It . . . it's really so strange that I would forget, but probably, somehow when I changed . . ._

_Well, never mind that now. What did I think to make it work? It's strange – I don't recall thinking anything. Actually, all I remember thinking was 'up.'_ Ascot felt a lurch and he opened his eyes: he was a foot off the ground. "Yes!"

The people at the door cheered as well – because they finally succeeding in forcing the door open wide enough to squeeze through, one at a time. Ascot did not waste a moment, and threw all his concentration into thinking 'up' – and 'quickly!!!'

Only one man kept trying to shoot at Ascot. The rest simply stared as the young man rocketed upward on a plain sheet of metal.

"It's just an evil Cephiran trick! Don't let him get away!"The fuming man's words seemed sufficient to convince his companions to start firing at Ascot once more.

Ascot's lack of recent practice made it harder than he remembered, but he nevertheless managed to fly up level with the catwalk, then a little higher still so he could jump over the railing. He let the metal panel fall back to the ground, hoping that the people would have the sense to stay out of the way. It hit the hard floor with a resounding clang seconds later.

The cockpit door to the ugly purple Mashin was wide open – apparently the maintenance on the foot had been pretty major – Ascot gratefully dove inside and looked around. The interior was covered in metal panels, consoles, and controls of mysterious origins. Guessing, Ascot hit a grayish button beside the door and was pleased when the cockpit door hummed and slowly locked closed. _They shouldn't bother me in here._ Then Ascot realized that the people below probably knew very well how to get up onto the catwalk. _Oh no – now I've __really__ trapped myself! What can I do?!_

The answer was obvious, but Ascot did not want to admit it. He tried desperately to think of any other solution, but came up blank. _I did put that inquiry band-thing on . . . that wasn't so bad . . ._ His attempts to reassure himself utterly failed – instead of calming down, instead his heart started pounding. _Don't think, don't think . . ._ Ascot sat down in the black-cushioned control chair. There was a computer-interfacing headband laid across the right armrest. _Don't think! I . . . just don't think about it!_ He clenched his eyes shut and choked back a whimper, then blindly grasped the band and slipped it on his head before he could talk himself out of it.

Images flickered into his mind, as though displayed on the back of his eyes. They blurred and faltered so much that Ascot could read nothing that was written there. With a sigh, he pulled his hair out from under the band.

He could feel the wires touching his bare skin. They tingled. Ascot curled up into fetal position and clutched his knees to his chest and just gasped for a wretched, interminable moment. Finally, his panic faded slightly and he could begin to let himself focus on the diagrams that the band was feeding directly into his mind.

The various graphs and readouts meant nothing to him, but as he wondered about each, explanatory text would suddenly appear and inform him which graphs were for fuel levels, power control, cockpit integrity, and so forth. The dancing graphs were simultaneously hypnotizing and terrifying. Ascot reached up with both hands and nearly pulled the band off his head . . . when he remembered the hostile people outside, and his immediate situation. _It's okay. Really, it's okay. See? It's not hurting me . . ._ Ascot focused on slowing down his breathing.

At last, experimenting gingerly and remembering the same train of thought that let him fly the metal panel, Ascot extended his right arm slightly and visualized the Mashin doing the same.

The purple Mashin stuck out its right arm.

Ascot gasped as he felt power flow through him into the Mashin. _I . . . it drains my energy, like I expected – I feel it . . . But it doesn't hurt. I – maybe it's not supposed to hurt? _A little more of Ascot's fear left. He pictured the Mashin moving its legs and taking two steps forward. It did so, rumbling and clanking slightly.

_No, this still can't be safe! Even though it doesn't hurt like I thought it would . . . just look at Eagle! It drained all his energy away and left him stuck in that sleeping death!_

Ascot shook his head, and was chagrined that the Mashin did the same. _No thinking. No thinking. I'm just going back to Cephiro. No thinking. There's the door over there. I wonder how I can get it open?_

No other solution presented itself, so Ascot pictured the Mashin using weapons to force the door open. He was shocked when the Mashin opened fire with its entire arsenal, totally blowing the door away. _Oops – I didn't mean that! Ugh, I hope I didn't hurt anybody._ Ascot sent the Mashin lumbering threw the hole, then jumped off into midair.

The Mashin plummeted under the influence of gravity.

_Aaaaaaagh!_ Ascot was too scared to vocalize his scream. _Fly! Fly! Do something! Whoa!_

The Mashin kindly activated its rockets and hovered midair.

Ascot leaned further into the chair and groaned. The interface showed him the power levels graph again, but he did not know why. The Mashin did not give any explanation, apparently expecting the data to speak for itself. Ascot just hoped it meant that the Mashin was functioning properly. _Just take me to Cephiro_, he thought firmly to the computer. _Set a course for Cephiro, and go there at maximum speed, dodging any obstacles in our way._

_**Orders confirmed. Course laid in. Engaging now. **_The Mashin 'spoke' to Ascot through the connection, startling the boy.

_Okay, great. Carry on, Mashin_. Ascot sighed again, deliberated over taking the headband off during the flight, but finally decided he ought to leave it on. He closed his eyes, tried to relax, and finally permitted himself to take a long-overdue nap while the ugly Mashin rocketed toward Cephiro.


	7. Clef Has an Epiphany

_I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth. It is the creation of the wonderful CLAMP._

_I think the scene title says it all. It's nearing the end now! Yay! I think I can have the last chapters up by Saturday. And then, I have to get ready for school again . . .

* * *

_

**Scars**

_by Maelstra_

**Scene 8: Clef Has an Epiphany**

"After what you've told me, I can only think of one possibility," Clef told the three Magic Knights.

"What's that?" Umi prompted.

"Given this girl's ability to disappear and reappear at will, I have come to the conclusion that she must be a ghost."

"What? A ghost?!" Hikaru gasped. "But, she seemed so solid! How can a ghost wield a sword?"

"It must be the strength of her will that lets her," the boyish Guru responded, shaking his head sadly. "That, and she probably was a user of magic as well. That might also permit her to retain so much power, even after death."

"But then, if she is a ghost . . ." Fuu murmured to herself. "What can she want with Ferio?"

"Do you know who she might be?" Umi asked.

Clef shrugged. "I don't recall anyone matching the description that you gave me. It is possible that this ghost is older than even I am."

Hikaru gaped. "But then, if she's that old, then how could Ferio have made her angry?"

"We did discuss the possibility that the ghost was actually angry with Emeraude, and was only attacking Ferio because he was her closest relative," Fuu reminded Hikaru.

"Hmm . . ." Clef tapped a finger to his chin and started pacing around his personal study. "That's a good idea, Fuu – but then it raises the new question of why we never encountered this ghost while Emeraude was the pillar."

"Maybe Emeraude's will keep all the ghosts asleep, just like she kept away the monsters," Fuu suggested.

"Yeah, but what about all those monsters that started appearing once Emeraude locked herself in her prison? Shouldn't the ghosts have been able to wake up then?" Umi countered.

Hikaru sighed. "So maybe Emeraude's not the one who made the ghost angry either?"

Clef suddenly stopped pacing. "Hikaru . . . that's an excellent idea."

"Huh?" Hikaru tried to recall whether she had just said anything profound.

"I was rather young myself, and so I seldom think of it, but . . ." Clef abruptly turned to face the three girls again. "Magic Knights, did I mention to you that I remembered the day Emeraude became the pillar?"

The three girls nodded, and Fuu vocalized, "Yes, I believe so."

"The pillar before Emeraude was a man – Prince Amethys. Now, didn't you tell me the girl said something about wanting to attack 'the prince'?"

Fuu's eyes went wide with understanding. "Yes, she did. Something to the effect that since Ferio was the prince, that was all the reason she needed to attack him."

"So then, maybe it was this . . . Amethys the ghost was angry with? And she just decided to attack Ferio because he reminded her of the other prince?" Umi looked to Clef for his opinion.

Clef nodded. "And this theory would also explain well why we never encountered this ghost during Emeraude's reign." Clef clasped his hands together and resumed pacing. "Somehow, I still feel we are overlooking something . . . but perhaps this is the best we can do for now." He stopped once more. "Magic Knights, you said you wish to have your magic reawakened, so that you can help protect Ferio?"

"Yes, Guru Clef," Fuu nodded, her eyes almost growing teary. The two other girls agreed as well.

"Very well. Look deep into your hearts, Magic Knights. Feel the power that flows within. I will reawaken your power this one last time – for after this time, the power should become a part of you that you can find on your own, whenever you are truly in need."

A rush of magic surrounded the girls. The air around Fuu resolved into a green mist, Umi was enveloped by water, and Hikaru appeared to burst into flames. After a moment, the magical manifestations vanished, and the girls were left just as they had appeared before, still dressed in their normal school uniforms.

"I can feel the magic within me again – and the armor!" Hikaru exclaimed. She closed her eyes and concentrated, her face contorting almost painfully. Armor very similar to what Clef had given the girls on their second visit to Cephiro appeared out of nowhere, going over the top of her uniform.

Clef nodded in approval. "Very good, Hikaru. Now then, we –"

An orb of blue flame suddenly flared up within a bowl on one of Clef's desks. The guru stared in surprise for only a split second. "It's a warning . . . Something is approaching Cephiro from space."

"What is it?" Hikaru asked, her voice getting swallowed up in the spell Clef started casting which slowly resolved itself to show a room-sized replica of Cephiro and its surrounding worlds.

Chizeta and Fahren shimmered innocuously, then faded from the scene. Autozam and Cephiro became brighter and larger. "There!" Clef jabbed a finger a point halfway between those two worlds. That tiny spot expanded until it filled almost the whole room, pushing out all the other details. What at first appeared to be a swarm of little gnats turned into a fleet of assault ships and Autozamian Mashin.

"There's over fifty of them," Fuu gasped. "Why are they doing this?"

Clef frowned. "It seems the situation with Autozam has become even worse than I thought."

"We should go tell Eagle!" Umi burst out. "He said he wanted to know. Besides, maybe he would have some idea of how we can resolve things peacefully."

"There's little Eagle can do at the moment," Clef cautioned. "But you may talk to him if you wish. I in the meantime will attempt to contact Geo Metro through my spell . . ."

"Thanks Clef!" Hikaru yelled as she ran out the door. The other two girls rushed out after her.They careened around the corners of the high-arched hallways and set a new record for speed going up the stairs.

Hikaru reached the room first and threw the door open. "Eagle? Eagle! There's a fleet from Autozam, heading toward Cephiro!"

_Wh-what?!_ His shock even showed faintly on his sleeping face. _Has my father lost his mind? I – Hikaru, I really don't understand what would drive them to do this._

"We should all stay calm. Maybe they have a good reason," Fuu suggested. "Maybe their problems with their atmosphere have suddenly gotten much worse. Eagle, didn't you say that even during Emeraude's time they had already tried invading?"

_Well yes . . ._

"Eagle! Do you think they might be trying to get revenge on Cephiro for when Cephiro attacked them before?" Umi demanded, recalling her last conversation with the unconscious young man.

_But that was so long ago . . . And truthfully, Cephiro didn't exactly attack them before . . ._

"Huh?" Hikaru looked puzzled. "What are you guys talking about?"

Umi scowled. "So if Cephiro didn't attack them, then what did happen?" she demanded sternly.

_Mmh . . . well . . ._ Eagle shifted slightly, still not truly wakening. _What I heard was that Cephirans kidnapped the Supreme General's youngest child. In exchange for the child's life, the Cephirans demanded that Autozam immediately destroy all their machinery powered by mental energy. The President of Autozam obviously could not comply with such a threat, but in the end he did order another invasion. That attempt failed, and the Autozamians returned home, and we have heard nothing from Cephiro ever since._

"Oh my goodness!" Fuu gasped. "Princess Emeraude . . . would never have condoned such a thing!"

"Yeah!" Hikaru piped up. "I don't think that even Zagato would be that mean!"

_I believe you,_ Eagle answered slowly. _And just from all the circumstances of it, I had been wondering . . . I mentioned it to Lantis once, and he knew nothing about it. If the government of Cephiro had been involved in this, then surely Lantis would have known._ Eagle stirred again, just slightly, as though trying to relax into a more comfortable position.

"We can ask Clef if he ever heard anything," Umi suggested.

_No – don't trouble the Guru about this. It couldn't possibly be the cause behind the current threat of invasion. That incident was over ten years ago._

"I don't know about that," Hikaru countered. "After all, we've figured out that the strange girl who keeps appeared in the castle is a long-dead ghost who's just picked now to start seeking her revenge."

_A ghost – really? How fascinating. On Autozam, most people don't believe in ghosts . . . Have you figured out what she wants?_

"No, not entirely," Hikaru sighed. "She has something against Ferio, so we're guessing she might have a grudge against the pillar before Emeraude – maybe Ferio reminds her of him."

Umi would not let Eagle drop the issue yet. "Hold on, Eagle. So if Autozam isn't attacking Cephiro because of that old incident, then what is the most plausible reason for this invasion?"

Eagle thought a long time. He finally answered slowly, _I would assume that they are still seeking the same goal of conquering Cephiro, either for the purpose of relocating all our people here, or else to try to gain control of magic or other powers that might heal the diseased air on Autozam. But my father . . . is it possible that he might not realize I am still here?_

"Well, like you said," Umi pointed out, "with your condition, we can't offer him any direct proof of your being here. I'm sure Geo would have passed your messages on to him. Why would the President doubt Geo's word?"

_But why . . . What?! There's something cold – !_

"Huh?" Hikaru glanced around the room in confusion.

Umi frowned. "Don't change the subject, Eagle."

_No, I'm serious. Something cold . . . downstairs?_

Fuu gasped. "I feel it! She's back! We have to protect Ferio!" Without another word, she was out the door.

Moments later, the Magic Knights arrived outside Ferio's door. Hikaru got there first again, so she was the one who wrenched the double doors open and charged inside.

The strange, purple-haired girl turned around and glowered at them, then held out her right hand and made her magical blade appear in her fist. Ferio had backed himself up against the wall, and was looking almost as pale as his tunic, but otherwise okay so far.

"Stop it, you!" Fuu demanded, pointing a finger at the unwelcome stranger. "We've discussed it over with Clef. Ferio can't be the one you're angry at – he's much too young. Isn't Prince Amethys the one you're really after?!"

"Age? What does age matter in Cephiro?" she asked solemnly. Then her face twisted. "But how could you so callously mention Prince Amethys? Have you no manners?!" She screamed a battle cry and slashed at Fuu.

Fuu shrieked and tried to dodge – she only made it because Hikaru blocked the stranger's blade on her own magical sword.

"Summon your armor, Fuu," Umi directed as she helped her friend back to her feet. She had already drawn out her own magical, blue armor and sword for the fight.

Fuu nodded, then closed her eyes and concentrated. Green light enveloped her briefly, then solidified into chest and shoulder guards, and a long sword made of escudo. Meanwhile Umi and Hikaru wasted no time in pressing their attack against the strange girl.

"Then what is your problem?! Has Ferio ever done anything to you personally?" Umi yelled while trying to alternately slash and dodge.

"No! You little girls couldn't possibly understand!" The girl dropped her sword so that she could summon a ball of fire to hurl at the girls. "Roiling Lava!"

"Protecting Winds!" Fuu countered, absorbing most of the deadly attack.

"Wait! Did you know Amethys then?" Hikaru asked.

"Prince Amethys. So disrespectful – just what I'd expect from Magic Knights – and yes, I did!"

"So, are you by chance Aki?"

Everyone was surprised by Ferio's question and turned and looked his direction.

The girl especially looked unnerved. "How would you know that?!" she hissed.

Ferio tried to maintain his cool, but nevertheless did not venture away from his wall. "Emeraude told me about you – the Magic Knight who turned on her friends because she fell in love with the pillar she was summoned to destroy."

Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu all gaped. Meanwhile, Aki yelled back, "He was lonely! Because he was the pillar, he was not allowed to think any more of one person than another – and so they kept him away from everybody! Is it any surprise that he would grow tired of caring for a world that cared nothing for him? It wasn't fair!"

"No, it wasn't. But when the people of Cephiro tried to fix things, it went no better. My older sister became the next pillar, and in an attempt to keep her from being lonely, the people of Cephiro encouraged her to be around her subjects." Ferio noted the point of Aki's sword was drooping, so he finally took a few steps away from the wall. "But that didn't help at all, since she soon fell in love with one of them. The end result was the same – she had to summon these Magic Knights to stop herself from destroying Cephiro in her sorrow."

Aki spluttered, "Well – that – it still makes no difference!" She raised her sword and started for Ferio again. "You're here now!"

Fuu took a gamble and burst out, "Aki-san, Ferio is not the new pillar."

Aki stopped short. "What?" Her sword tip dropped to the floor.

Ferio sighed in relief. "She's right – I'm not," he told Aki, then commented for the Magic Knights' benefit, "Many times, the new pillar is a close relative of the previous one. Amethys was actually my uncle – but he died before I was even born."

"Oh, I see – so Aki jumped to the conclusion that because you are the prince then you are also the pillar – right?" Umi asked.

"So, then who is the new pillar?" Aki demanded, unimpressed and unwilling to admit her mistake.

"Well . . . Hikaru would be . . ." Fuu truthfully, but a bit nervously, gestured to her friend.

Hikaru nodded. "Yes, but since I became pillar, I could decide the fate of the world – and so I decided that the pillar system should be abolished."

Aki's mouth dropped open. "So . . . there's no pillar?"

"Right. After what we had to do . . . and saw with Emeraude, there was no way I wanted that horrible situation to ever happen to anybody again." Hikaru, smiling gently, once again offered her hand to Aki. "Please – I don't want anybody to have to fight. Can't we be friends?"

Aki was frozen in shock. Her sword slipped from her hand and disappeared, but she didn't even seem to care. The door slowly opened and Clef slipped in, but Ferio was the only one who noticed. The girls' eyes were on Aki and Hikaru.

Hikaru took Aki's unresisting hand in hers. "I'm so sorry you had such a sad time with Prince Amethys. If he could see the feelings in your heart, I'm sure he wouldn't want you to be so unhappy."

"I agree," Clef said, startling Aki so that she pulled her hand free, and took a quick step back. Clef meandered into the center of the room and faced Aki directly. "And actually, while I was trying to communicate with Autozam, someone interrupted me – someone who wanted to talk to you . . ." While Clef started a spell, Aki just stared. Then, a magic circle appeared, glimmering around the room. "Spirit Reveal!" Clef intoned, spreading his arms.

The glowing circles disappeared, but the spell had left a seventh person in the room. He had purple hair and wore very plain, white robes, but otherwise he looked very much like a slightly older version of Ferio. He glanced briefly around at the other people in the room, then focused on the ghostly girl. "Aki? What are you . . . ?" His brow furrowed in confusion. "What did you do to your hair?"

Aki's eyes went wide. She blushed, and then with a flick of her hand, changed her hair color and the highlights of her dress to magenta. "Prince Amethys! I changed it to remind me of . . . you . . . why are you still here?"

Amethys sighed plaintively. "You've kept me waiting. You told me that you would be my friend . . . but then you never came . . ."

Aki choked back a sob, then ran and gave Amethys a heart-felt hug. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was just so angry . . . with the pillar . . . and then Emeraude put me to sleep!"

"And me as well . . . but her influence has been waning for a long time." Amethys gently wrapped his arms around Aki. "Why do you still linger here? What have you left undone?"

For a moment, Aki only sobbed. Finally, she cried, "Nothing – nothing. Except . . ." With obvious reluctance, she broke away from Amethys and walked over to Ferio. She still had tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry for everything. I was . . . mistaken." Aki stood on her tiptoes and kissed Ferio on the forehead. "I leave you my best wishes – for Cephiro, and for the happiness of everyone in it." This said, she returned to Amethys and looped her arm through his. "Shall we move on?"

A shy, grateful smile slowly spread across Amethys's face. "Yes. It is time." Arm in arm, they turned and strolled out of the room, fading away with every step until they were gone.

* * *

_I think Aki is psycho . . . yet her character still has a certain odd charm. __I wonder if anyone guessed this outcome. I hope it was at least partly a surprise. __And just in case there was anyone wondering, Aki and Amethys are my own invention._

_And I should probably refrain . . . but I just can't resist: a scene that should never be!_

_Clef threw open the doors and burst into the room, completely out-of-character. Proudly, he declared, "I've just had an apostrophe!"_

_Lafarga shook his head. "I think you mean an epiphany."_

"_Lightning has just struck my brain," Clef said while tapping his head with his index finger._

_Lafarga rolled his eyes. "That must hurt."_

_Ha!!! __Sorry. Really. But ever since I named the chapter, this is what I kept thinking of. __Besides, "Hook" is such a good movie that surely the MKR characters would appreciate it, too._

_Right?_


	8. Autozam’s Invasion of Cephiro

_I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth. It is the creation of the wonderful CLAMP._

_Optional author monologue:_

_I'm so sorry I didn't finish the last two chapters by today like I planned. I read two books on Friday instead of writing. "Hidden Talents" and "True Talents." They were good books, by the way. _

_On the other hand, this chapter is twice as long as some of the others have been – so it's almost like two chapters by itself. And also, the final chapter will be all the better for me taking an extra couple of days to work on it. It needs the extra work anyway, since I wrote this whole story (up to this chapter) last summer, but I only finally started putting the last chapter to paper this week. I think it's pretty funny that I forgot to write the last scene in the first place – but I think what happened was that I was trying to finish this story before NaNoWriMo started, but I didn't quite make it. And then, I was so preoccupied with that story until January that Scars just slipped my mind. At least I was smart enough to make some notes so that I could remember what I intended to do._

_End of optional author monologue._

_And so, the final scene will appear sometime early next week, classes and brain power permitting. Until then, I hope you enjoy this scene.

* * *

_

**Scars**

_by Maelstra_

**Scene 9: Autozam's Invasion of Cephiro**

Ferio released a long, prolonged sigh of relief. "Man, I am so glad I had you girls here to figure that out."

Clef smirked proudly. "Well, isn't it the job of the Magic Knights to defend the peace of Cephiro? We are indeed very lucky to have such brave, strong-willed Magic Knights to aid us in all our troubles."

Umi and Fuu blushed at the compliment. Hikaru just stretched out her arms, then made her sword and armor melt away while commenting, "I'm just happy we could help Aki. From the start, she seemed so sad – but she let her sorrow turn into anger, and it got out of control."

"Yes . . ." The smile slipped from Clef's face. "Unfortunately, speaking of things getting out of control – I contacted Autozam, but I was told that Geo Metro was under arrest – under suspicion of being a traitor."

"What? But all Geo's done is pass along news for Eagle!" Umi protested.

"You're right, but apparently they decided that he has had too much contact with Cephiro, and that his loyalty is now suspect."

"But Guru Clef, that makes no sense!" Fuu shook her head.

"I know . . . but there's nothing I can do from here. They won't let me talk to President Vision or any of the other leaders." Clef sighed and massaged the back of his head. "We may have no choice but to face the invasion as best we can. I managed to contact Lantis on Chizeta, and he should already be on his way back." Clef summoned a ball of magic in one palm, and after swirling in a mass of rainbow, it resolved itself into a miniature of Cephiro. A faint purple spark flickered high in the sky. As everyone watched, it gradually moved closer to the surface of Cephiro. "The first Autozamian Mashin of the invasion fleet is nearly here," Clef explained. "Magic Knights, do you wish to join our forces that will go meet it?"

"Of course," Hikaru answered instantly. "Maybe it's just a scout ship, and we can use the chance to talk to them and get them to call off the invasion."

"You're always so optimistic, Hikaru," Umi said with a sigh while ruffling the red head's hair.

"I'm coming too, Clef," Ferio declared. "Now that the ghost has been dealt with, there's no reason for me to stay cooped up in here."

"Of course – I would not try to stop you, Prince. However . . . may I suggest you find some better armor than your nightclothes?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ferio casually shooed everyone out of his room. "I'll meet you outside on the plains."

Almost as quickly as the girls made it outside, Ferio caught up to them, fully dressed in his princely robes, and carrying his sword and a shield that the girls had never seen him use. "Where is it?" he asked Clef without preamble.

"There." Clef pointed to a dark shape in the sky. "It's coming down quickly. You four go ahead – I need to warn everyone in the castle and nearby to either take cover or prepare to fight."

"Right." Ferio took the lead and the three Magic Knights trailed after him.

"Are you fully recovered now, Ferio?" Fuu asked quietly after she managed to catch up to the prince's stride.

"Eh . . . well enough, I hope. Don't worry about me – I'm just fine against things that I can actually hit."

"But their Mashin – what if they attack Cephiro from the sky?"

"Well . . . that would be harder," Ferio admitted. He slowed his pace and looked up into the sky. "But this Mashin looks more like it's trying to land than attack."

"We ought to stop here so it doesn't come down on top of us," Umi suggested tensely.

The crest of the hill where they stood seemed safe enough, so the others conceded. The Mashin was only a few hundred feet up by then, and it started slowing its descent drastically. Clef ran up then, followed by Lafarga and a handful of palace guards.

The ship suddenly froze awkwardly in midair before, then dropped fifty feet in free fall. It slowed its descent again and drifted down closer to the ground – but then, while it was still at least seventy feet up, it suddenly dropped like a boulder and crashed into the plains. The giant robot landed flat on its feet, but the legs buckled, and the whole robot fell over onto its side with a resounding crash.

"Ah – Clef, did you do something to it?" Hikaru asked worriedly.

"No, I didn't do anything. Maybe it was damaged in the flight?"

"Actually, it just looks like the pilot has never tried landing a robot on real terrain before."

Hikaru recognized the voice instantly, but could not place it until she turned around. "Eagle?! You're awake?!" She dove and grabbed him in a bear hug around his waist.

"Yes . . . It's funny, but I was just lying there, growing more and more agitated because there was nothing I could do to help. Finally, I heard Clef's call to the castle for everyone to prepare for the invasion . . . and something just snapped." The white-haired man chuckled. "Since Cephiro is a place of will, I probably just wanted to wake up so badly that I finally did."

"Do you feel alright?" Hikaru interrogated him. "Do you feel any tiredness at all?"

"I feel a little groggy – but I'd expect that much after sleeping for months. Anyway – shouldn't we go investigate our new guest?" Eagle asked with a significant nod in the direction of the downed, purple robot.

They rushed over, and the Magic Knights summoned out their armor and magic swords as insurance. Ferio also cocked his blade at ready. The hatch to the cockpit started opening, but from the angle, it hit the ground and jammed. Lafarga grunted, went forward and yanked it all the way open.

"Ascot?" Lafarga stepped back in surprise.

"It burns," Ascot whimpered, looking at Lafarga with wild eyes. "Get it off – help me!" He lay sideways, awkwardly, in the pilot seat, tugged desperately at the control headband. His struggles had snapped several of the connecting wires, yet the whole contraption had somehow become tangled in his longish hair. "Please?" he begged weakly.

Lafarga went forward and quickly removed the headband, along with many strands of Ascot's brown hair. Ascot gratefully leapt out of the seat and collapsed on the hard ground in a limp sprawl. His robes were singed and sweaty, and he gasped for breath like he had been running a marathon. All the while, he kept clutching both hands tightly against his forehead.

Fuu sent her sword away, though she still kept her armor for the moment. "Are you injured? Let me see." She gently tried to coax Ascot to sit upright and to remove his arms from shielding his head.

"It hurts . . . I could barely see . . . It didn't hurt at all at first," he sobbed, finally dropping his hands to his sides, out of the way.

Fuu pushed Ascot's bangs from his eyes for a closer look, then gasped sharply. "Oh my goodness – it's burned!" She prepped herself for a magic spell. "Hold still, Ascot. Healing Winds!" Her emeraldine magic wrapped around the boy, and briefly swallowed him completely in its light. Then, the magic faded, leaving him apparently the same as before. Fuu pushed back Ascot's bangs with both hands, stared at his forehead, and frowned. "It didn't work. I can't understand why . . ."

"Let me see?" Eagle carefully made his way closer and studied Ascot's forehead with a critical eye. "Those marks – they look like old burn scars."

"Scars? What – but I don't . . ."

"Yeah . . ." Eagle trailed off, apparently talking to only himself. He stood to reach into the giant robot's cockpit and withdrew the control headband, tsking as he saw the broken wires hanging forlornly from the edges. With flick of his wrist, he unplugged the surviving wires, then crouched down and held the band up near Ascot.

Ascot reflexively leaned away, but Eagle seemed oblivious to the boy's discomfort. The blond man studied the inside of the headband, and simultaneously pushed back Ascot's bangs to glance at his forehead. "Ha – I was right. The wiring patterns don't match, so it couldn't have been this particular headband that burned you."

Umi frowned. "So, where are the burns from?"

"How long have you had those scars?" Hikaru asked, finally joining the conversation.

"I don't know!" Ascot sighed. "I didn't even know they were there!"

"How can you not know something like that?" Umi wanted to know.

"I know!" Hikaru declared. "His bangs are so long that when he looks in the mirror, he can't see his forehead anyway!"

Ascot sighed. "Really, I remember nothing about it . . ."

"Interesting." Eagle sat down on a convenient stone and set both hands atop his knee. "So, when have you had a chance to fly before?"

"What?" Ascot was so stunned by the question, he stared at Eagle speechlessly for a moment. "W-what do you mean? I've never touched one of those things before in my life!" He glanced back at the purple monstrosity that still rested where he had crashed it. "And, I never want to again, either!"

Now Eagle looked surprised. "But that can't be possible – I saw how well you flew. It took Lantis several months to master even a simple, personal hovercar."

"But – well . . . maybe Lantis was just bad at it."

Hikaru interrupted, "You shouldn't talk that way about Lantis when he isn't around to defend himself."

Ascot shook his head and finished explaining. "Anyway, it didn't seem any harder than making rocks and other little things fly. I was using my magic to do that for years."

Clef glanced up at the sky, and everybody else followed his lead. They could still not see anything beyond the thin clouds and blue sky, but their anxiety made them start imagining they saw moving specks if they stared too long. Clef shortly returned his attention to the group. "The rest of the Autozamian fleet will arrive here in minutes. Eagle – I've already tried calling your father, but I've had no luck. Do you think you could contact this fleet and persuade them to return to Autozam peacefully?"

"Well – just a minute," Eagle hastily dismissed Clef, much to the Guru's (and everyone else's) surprise. Then Eagle bit on his lip and looked at Ascot extremely seriously. "I think I recognize the pattern of those burn marks – they're from an experimental, high-energy band that was recently banned because of dangerous side effects. Can you remember anything that would explain why you have those burns on your forehead?"

Ascot blinked, several times more than necessary as he tried to collect his thoughts. He had a strange image pass through his mind of a searing-hot headband welded to his head – but he could make no sense of it and swiftly dismissed it. "No. I-I really don't know."

"Hm. Well then . . ." Eagle tapped a finger to the side of his chin thoughtfully, still staring straight into Ascot's eyes. Suddenly, he asked, "How old are you?"

"What?" Ascot scraped his knuckles against a rock as he jerked back in surprise. "Well . . ." _Does he think this will somehow help me figure out how I got burned?_ "I really don't know. Everyone on Cephiro just appears as the age they want to be. I mean . . . I myself stayed as a little kid for years – until Umi finally helped my heart to mature." Ascot glanced shyly up at said blue-haired girl, and she gave him a slight grin in return.

Eagle looked a bit puzzled. He then shrugged. "This is a very mysterious world, indeed. But then, why not? In that case . . . what is the earliest thing you remember?"

Ascot pursed his lips and sincerely tried to remember. So much of his past before he had met the Magic Knights had become blurred. He had asked some others, and they had indicated that it was just a normal part of growing up, to have childhood become more indistinct. Perhaps it was not normal for so many memories to grow faint all at once. He had never worried about it before. _But now, I need to remember. Before the Magic Knights, before Zagato, what was I doing . . . ?_ He focused with all his might, starting with the day he met Umi, and working backwards from there. Slowly, images and memory fragments came back to him. "I remember the day I met Caldina. She found me living with monsters, and she said she thought I needed to hang around more humans. So, she led me to the nearest village, where the local Palu taught me summoning magic . . ."

"Hm . . . so you don't remember your parents or family at all?" Eagle pried.

Ascot shook his head. He'd never really thought about it before, but for some reason, the way Eagle said it made him feel a bit sorry for himself. The feeling was strange, and Ascot suddenly wanted to change the subject. "Hold on – I'd like to ask you a question now: why did that scary old guy attack us as soon as we arrived on Autozam?"

Eagle shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know. Can you explain exactly what happened?"

Lafarga took over, giving an extremely concise description. He ended with, "And that head officer took one look at us and declared that we were now enemies."

"I see . . . that makes perfect sense now . . ." Eagle stared off into space, drawing in the air to form diagrams only he could discern – but he suddenly looked very, very pleased.

Ascot frowned deeply, disturbed that Eagle should be so happy about what he and Lafarga had gone through. "Right . . . so, um . . . maybe you should try to call the fleet now?"

Clef nudged Eagle in the shoulder meaningfully. Eagle glanced up briefly and nodded in acknowledgment, then finally stood. He offered Ascot a hand, still grinning inanely, and helped the boy to shakily get to his feet. "So then . . . what was your name again?"

"A-It's Ascot."

"A-scot?"

"Yeah . . . I think it's the name Caldina called me," he admitted, rubbing his fingers through the hair on his neck. "When I lived with the monsters, I think they called me . . . something else. I can't remember anymore."

"Uh-huh. Might the name have been 'Scotian'?"

"Uh . . ." Ascot glanced by reflex at Lafarga, who shrugged in indifference. Then, Ascot closed his eyes and muttered. "Scot-ian? A-scot. A-scot-ian? Yeah . . . Yeah, that might've been it – ack!"

Eagle without warning dove forward and squashed Ascot in a tight hug. "That's wonderful!"

Ascot tried to push the crazy blond off of him. "Will you explain what you're talking about?! Who am I then?"

"Scotian Vision, an authentic Autozamian." Eagle permitted Ascot to squirm out of the hug, but countered by threading one of his arms through Ascot's and clinging like glue.

"Hey!" Umi protested. "I thought you said it was the Supreme General's son who was kidnapped."

"Ah . . . did I forget to mention that my father used to be the Supreme General before he was appointed President?" Eagle smiled innocently, but no one was convinced.

Hikaru perked up. "Oh – so you two are brothers?"

"That is correct," Eagle affirmed.

Ascot finally stopped trying to pull away. "Wha– but?" He stared at Eagle, utterly confused. "Wait – but, why . . . um . . . how?" Ascot mentally retraced the last five minutes of conversation, and realized that the evidence did seem to point to Eagle's conclusion. "But then, why would the Autozamians want to attack Lafarga and me?"

"That's easy." Eagle waved a finger in the air. "The man you ran into on Autozam was one of the people who kidnapped you, Scotian. He recognized you immediately, and was afraid that you would tell the President on him."

"So then, Eagle, if Asc–Scot–um . . . the kid was really kidnapped by Autozamians, why would they try to blame it on Cephiro?" Umi interjected.

"Would the . . . treacherous Autozamian officer have hidden motives for wanting to attack Cephiro?" Ferio inquired after remaining silent for quite a long time.

Eagle answered instantly, "There are . . . a fair number of people who think moving the population of Autozam to Cephiro is the only real solution to our problems. However . . . most of these people don't care what might happen to the people who already live on Cephiro."

"So, they want to conquer our world for territory?" Clef asked, concerned.

"I think it is a strong possibility." Eagle folded his arms. "Throughout Father's whole career, people have criticized him for not taking the extraplanetary expansion idea seriously enough. He's never been fond of the idea of invading at all. In fact, he probably would never had agreed to the last invasion attempt if I had not personally pushed for it . . ."

"So, what do we do now? The fleet must nearly be here," Ferio asked, glancing up nervously toward the sky.

Eagle sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I can call the President via this robot here – he might have even come with the invasion force – and he will certainly accept my communications. However, it would be much easier if I could tell him specifics of who is behind this old deception." He turned again to Ascot. "Scotian, I'm sure you probably don't want to remember what happened – no doubt it was very frightening for you – but I really need to know who brought you here ten years ago."

"I-I understand." Ascot looked down at his hands and his feet, avoiding Eagle's gaze. "I just . . . I mean, I'll try." He glanced over to Lafarga. "Um, that man who turned everyone against us – didn't he have gray hair?"

Lafarga grunted in agreement.

Ascot made a face; that little would be of no help. He tried his best to concentrate, to will himself to remember something more. "Uh . . . I think he'd look really creepy with a mustache, and . . . um . . . I don't know why, but for some reason I picture his name being something like 'Sabrina'."

"Sabrina?" Lafarga echoed, his face blank. "I don't recall him ever mentioning his name, Ascot."

"Wait – not General Sebring?" Eagle jumped in. "He's Father's number one advisor!"

Ascot cringed and shrugged.

Eagle just kept talking. "No, no, you're right – it probably makes sense. He did have a mustache until five or so years ago. And, who else could have avoided Father's suspicions for so many years? But Sebring wouldn't have worked alone, I'd guess . . . Please, Scotian, think. Was there anyone else?"

Ascot tried to picture Sebring with a mustache, and suddenly found himself recalling a black cave. He shuddered involuntarily. _I don't want to remember this! But . . . I have to . . ._ "I think . . . there was someone with really bright, red hair. And . . . one more person. I don't remember what he looked like but . . . he whistled, I think?" Ascot found himself carried away by the memory now. He remembered flashes of pain, and his forehead throbbing like it was going to burst. Finally, he'd blacked out and awakened to finding himself in a strange, unfriendly place – a dark, natural cave, surrounded by bad, bad men. He recalled more disjointed moments of pain . . . and then a monster had snatched him away. Mimi's mother, an enormous, feral monster that roamed the area, had heard the commotion and come to investigate. She had burst into the cave, found Ascot, and in a maternal impulse had carried Ascot outside to her own lair, to safety. After that, things trickled back into memories that Ascot could more painlessly recall. And then those days melted seamlessly back into the day he had met Caldina.

"Red hair – that could be General Tiburon," Eagle mused out loud, lost in his own thoughts. "And Captain Cressida – Sebring's longtime assistant, almost constantly whistling – is also an extremely likely suspect."

"Why would they do this?" Ascot asked softly.

Eagle finally noticed this boy's pale complexion, and rested a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "There's not always a good reason for some things that people do. But, I promise you I'll do everything I can to make things right." Eagle glanced up at the sky, started, then looked over to Clef a bit sheepishly. "I think I'll try to call Father right now."

This prompted everyone else to look up. All but Lafarga gasped or otherwise vocally expressed their surprise. The blue sky above was peppered with little black dots: the individual ships of the Autozamian invasion fleet. Eagle wasted no more time, and immediately hopped up into the sideways robot and plugged himself in to the computer.

"How do you feel, Ascot?" Hikaru asked gently.

"I don't know . . . how I should feel," he answered, shaking his head.

"So – you're not really Cephiran," Umi commented into the awkward silence. "I never would have guessed that."

"Nor I, Ascot-san." Fuu blinked, then corrected herself. "I suppose I should say, 'Scotian-san'."

"No . . ." Ascot shook his head vehemently. "I . . . You don't have to call me that. Ascot is just fine." He blushed, embarrassed. "I mean . . . I'm not really sure what to think right now, anyway, and I –"

"Hey, Scotian, could you please come here for a minute?" Eagle called down from the robot.

After recovering from Eagle's interruption, Ascot tried to recall what point he had been intending to make, but failed. He sighed, glanced at all his friends, then reluctantly clambered back into the purple robot.

Inside, Eagle had a glowing orb that filled half the space. Eagle had himself seated on the side of the command chair – he patted the space beside him to indicate he wanted Ascot to come up there as well. Once Ascot complied, he could see that the glowing orb actually had someone's face in the center.

Eagle explained to the person in the magic orb, "He really barely remembers a thing – he must have gone through a terrible trauma. But look – you can see . . ."

"Oh my stars," the head in the orb exclaimed. "It is – it really is Scotian."

Ascot squinted into the glowing ball at the man with gray hair that hung in a style very similar to Eagle's. Something in the face made Ascot think back to portrait he had seen back on Autozam. "Sir . . . ? Are you my . . . father?"

The head of President Vision nodded. "Yes, Scotian."

"But you . . . you won't hurt the Cephirans, will you?" Ascot burst out, anxiety overcoming him.

"No, we won't. Eagle has explained the whole situation to me. Don't worry, Scotian – Sebring and his cohorts are being arrested, the fleet has been ordered back. I will come down and meet with the leaders of Cephiro, in person, and then we can all finally go home."

_Go home? _Ascot pictured the vaulted, marble hallways of the Cephiran castle. He saw the gardens around the castle, the fields, and the deep caverns where his monster friends lived. _Not home?_ Ascot suddenly thought that he might never be able to see these places again, and the feeling sickened him. He felt almost nauseous. The head inside the orb still smiled kindly at him, and Ascot did not want to offend this President Vision, but he really did not know what he ought to do.

Eagle looked over at Ascot, and seemed to recognize the boy's confusion, so he patted him on the shoulder, then resumed talking to his father. Ascot just sat still, not hearing a word Eagle said, clutching the sideways seat tightly with both hands, rhythmically pinching the headrest cushion with his fingers. _What will I do? What can I do? Will I never see Umi and Mimi or Clef and Lafarga and Caldina or anyone else from Cephiro again?_

The glowing orb buzzed, then disappeared. Eagle nudged Ascot and asked, "Are you okay?"

_Okay? Are you kidding me?_ "I . . . really don't know how to deal with this. It's so . . ."

"Relax," Eagle cut him off. "The toughest part is over now. I promise, Scotian, that everything will work out okay."

Ascot sighed and permitted Eagle to wrap a comforting arm around him. He was tired, physically, and tired of fighting his bewildered emotions. _For the moment, I just want to hope . . . I want to hope that Eagle is right, and that things will work out . . . _

_I want to hope that my friends will all be okay . . . But right now, I mostly want to hope that when this is all resolved, I won't have to be alone._

_

* * *

I have a lot I want to say about this story, and particularly this scene, but I'm going to save it for the end note of the next chapter. I mostly want to share my own opinion about the outcome of my experiment (see first chapter's head note), and blab a bit about the characters. So, until then, stay tuned!_


	9. Departure

_I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth. It is the creation of the wonderful CLAMP._

_At last, it's finished!!! I'm sorry, I really did mean to have it up last week . . . Well, I'm sure you know how it goes – you have really good intentions, and then school happens._

_I think this scene is worth the wait – I really wanted it to be good, so I didn't want to rush it. Since this whole section is much newer than the rest of the story, it will take me a few months before I can fairly evaluate it – but at least for now, I'm very happy with how it all worked out._

_I have a few more optional notes on this story – but I'll put those at the bottom. For now, I'll just wish you happy reading!

* * *

_

**Scars**

_by Maelstra_

**Scene 10: Departure**

Ascot glanced over at Eagle and President Vision. They were still totally engrossed in their conversation about fleet commanders, and something about a justice system. Clef and Ferio had joined the conversation as well, and from the way they acted, you'd think they were discussing the most fascinating thing in the universe.

In the meantime, Ascot flitted about the landing site, too full of energy to stand still, but lacking anything useful to do. The wind blew in his face, lifting his bangs up and out of his eyes. The first moment that President Vision had seen Ascot face to face, he had suggested that Ascot cut his hair. Guru Clef had promptly offered to magically hide the scars. While Ascot appreciated the sentiments – and he expected he would do both, eventually – somehow, he just wasn't quite ready yet. Eagle had just smirked when he heard Ascot's response. Ascot had to wonder if Eagle knew more about his own thought process than he did himself.

Umi came out of the castle and wandered over. "So here you are, Ascot! I just wanted to talk to you once more before we leave."

"You have to go already?" Ascot made no effort to hide his disappointment.

For once, Umi seemed to notice his feelings. She just stared at him for a moment, surprised at the strength of his response. "Yes . . . Well, as always, we can't stay too long, or our families might start to worry . . ."

"Ah . . . of course. Sorry. Yes, we don't want that." He felt silly for not thinking of it in the first place, and started to turn red.

"Yeah, but that's alright, because we'll come visit again soon."

"Yeah . . ." This time, Ascot mostly managed to hide his frown. He still did not know exactly how he was going to time visits to Cephiro from now on so that he could still see Umi and the other two Magic Knights. Eagle had promised that now that most tensions between the two worlds had been dissolved, keeping in communication with Cephiro wouldn't be a problem . . . At least President Vision wasn't going to forbid him to return to Cephiro – but Ascot didn't need Eagle to tell him that President Vision was really hoping to keep his youngest son close by. At least for a while. Ascot could not understand everything that must be going on inside the President's mind, but he just hoped that once the President was reassured that Ascot was not going to go missing again, then he would let Ascot spend more time away on Cephiro.

When Ascot had poured out all his concerns to Eagle, the blond had only laughed and told Ascot he had nothing to worry about. Again, Ascot could make little sense of Eagle's response.

Ascot bit his lip. "I'm going to miss you, Umi. Please, come visit again soon?"

She grinned, and then she laughed. "Of course I will, Ascot. I'm always happy to see Cephiro!"

Ascot inwardly groaned. _The way she smiles melts my heart . . . I know I don't feel this way about anybody else . . . And yet I still have no clue whether or not she even __likes__ me!_ He put on a brave front and said, "I really like Cephiro, too . . . but I'm always even happier to see you!"

Umi, as before, did not really react, as though she was confused as to how to interpret his last statement. Then something in her face changed. "Oh – that's right – you're going back to Autozam, and so you won't be on Cephiro anymore . . ."

"I'll still come back to visit as much as I can. My friends . . . Autozam is not a good place for my monster friends, I think. And everyone else . . ." he stumbled to a stop, unsure of how to continue.

Umi pursed her lips, silently remembering that confusing day when she had first suddenly appeared in Cephiro. Nothing had been as it seemed: monsters were friendly, a little midget was a great Guru, and the Princess of Cephiro . . . "Is it hard suddenly finding out that things aren't exactly the way you thought they were? I mean . . . does it bother you at all?" Umi asked softly.

Something in her tone made Ascot think she was referencing to something else, something big and important, but he could not guess what it was. Whatever it was, he automatically wanted to reassure her, so he shook his head and spoke the words that seemed to appear of their own accord inside his heart. "No. Not as long as you're not alone. It doesn't matter how strange or difficult things are, as long as you know you still have your friends to help you." His own words cut him a bit as he realized that on Autozam, he would have no one. Except Eagle. And Geo. And Zazu. And President Vision. And maybe some of their acquaintances would be willing to support him, too . . . _Okay, Ascot, maybe you should be honest with yourself now. How many people do you need supporting you, anyway? Besides, your friends on Cephiro aren't going to turn their backs on you just because you don't see them so often anymore. And especially Umi . . . would she really ever stop being your friend, even if you couldn't see her as much?_

Umi, of course, had no idea what Ascot was thinking about, but when she heard his answer to her question, she beamed broadly. "You know, Ascot, you're absolutely right. And I think I already knew that, but I just forget sometimes . . ."

"Me, too," Ascot added.

Umi looked at him inquiringly, which made the young man flush red yet again.

She laughed, a bit awkwardly, as though she were almost as uncertain as Ascot how to end this conversation. Umi was a lot more graceful than he was, and she swiftly collected herself. "Well . . . so I'll see you later."

"Yes. Definitely." Ascot really wanted to hug her, but did not quite dare initiate it, so instead he settled for lightly touching her arm.

She returned the gesture with a grin. "Good luck on Autozam." Then she turned and walked back into the castle.

Ascot's heart was churning like a whirlpool, but overall, he had to say that he felt good. Confused, anxious, nervous . . . but primarily good.

President Vision came up from behind and tapped Ascot on the shoulder. "Scotian, are you ready to go?"

Ascot jumped, and then flushed even further as he realized that President Vision and the others had probably just been standing around, waiting for him to finish his conversation with Umi. "Um . . . Yes, sir?"

"Good." President Vision started to turn away. "Come on, then. We need to get back to Autozam right away, so that Sebring and his cronies don't have any time to slip through our grasp."

Ascot just nodded and numbly followed Eagle and the President onto the small, white craft that would convey them up to the head ship of the Autozamian fleet. The tiny ship had a large window in the front, and Ascot instinctively headed straight for it. From them, he watched Cephiro slowly shrink away into a brilliantly shimmering, crystalline orb. Cephiro was beautiful, even from so far away.

Someone laid a hand on Ascot's shoulder, startling his attention away. The hand belonged to President Vision. _My father. _Those words still held an awkward ring. _But it's not going to make my transition any easier if I keep trying to avoid thinking them._

"I can see this is hard for you, Scotian. And I see you don't really want to discuss this, and I respect that." He paused and looked out the window, into the vast, dark expanse that separated the worlds. "But I hope you'll try to be patient with me." He glanced down at Ascot and shrugged. "This is all somewhat difficult for me as well."

Ascot nodded slightly, not really understanding, though. He understood the pain of losing a friend, but could not imagine what could be so difficult about being reunited with someone you had thought was gone. His confusion remained etched on his face as he met the President's eyes.

President Vision sighed, and shook his head. "What I'm trying to say is that I hope you'll be willing to visit this old man enough to get reacquainted. I missed you terribly, Scotian, and I'm . . . very happy to have you back."

Ascot flushed as he realized that his thoughts and concerns must have been obvious to everyone else all along. "Of course I'll be willing to visit you! I mean, and I'll stay . . . I just want to go back to Cephiro sometimes. I'm sure it will be nicer once they start fixing the atmosphere – I mean Autozam! But Cephiro's nice, too . . ." Ascot trailed off as he realized he had no idea what he was trying to say. Eagle started laughing at him in the background, although he tried to keep it quiet. Finally, Ascot finished simply, "I'm sorry, sir, that I'm just not as excited about going back to Autozam as you are."

"That's alright," Eagle said, barging into the conversation. "I'm sure you'll like it a lot more once you've had a proper introduction to Autozam. Just leave it to me – I'll show you the best of everything: the raceways, the mecha factories, the underground parks . . ."

"Speaking of mechas," President Vision interrupted, "I've been meaning to ask you – Eagle, did you install a high-energy control band on your FTO, against my orders?"

Eagle was surprised by the question, but recovered quickly and smiled innocuously. "Now, Father . . . Oh look, we're ready to dock! We should get ready to board the main ship."

"Uh huh. Also, Eagle, when were you going to inform me that you had developed the initial symptoms for the Sleeping Death?"

Eagle stopped in the middle of his superfluous preparations. "Where did you hear about that?"

"Geo Metro told me, of course." President Vision scowled at his light-haired son. "And I've been waiting for months to hear your point of view on the whole matter. And isn't it fortuitous that we happen to have many hours of leisurely travel time ahead of us, in which to have a long-overdue father-son talk."

Eagle pointed across the room. "But Father, wouldn't you rather spend the time getting reacquainted with Scotian?"

Ascot held up his hands defensively and shook his head, while grinning. "Oh no, Eagle. I'm sure you have a lot more to talk about that I do."

The small ship shuddered. President Vision commented unnecessarily, "We've finished docking. Now, come along, boys. We'll all go to my private quarters, and there we can have a nice, long chat . . ." He threw another pointed glance at Eagle.

Eagle sighed tragically and followed President Vision to the docking hatch. Ascot followed close after, still not entirely sure of what lay in his future, but definitely not wanting to miss what was going to come next. _At least I know for sure that my future isn't going to be boring!_

And with all his friends to support him, he was sure that he could face whatever else might come his way next.

_**The End!

* * *

**_

_Yay!!!! Finishing this story makes me so happy! I hate leaving projects unfinished, so I'm delighted that I can finally cross this off my "to-write" list._

_Some notes on my character names:  
__I know that all the original character names are from cars (except for the 3 Magic Knights, as far as I could tell). So, Sebring, Tiburon, and Cressida are all names I saw on bumpers on the way to school._

_Aki is Japanese for "Autumn," and I was told it is a popular girl's name. I couldn't tell if Amethys was a car name or not, but it matches with Emeraude and Cephiro, so I decided it was close enough. And finally, when I first thought up this plot idea, I also thought up the name Scotian. I tried to see if it or something close to Ascot was a car name I could use, but I could never find anything else, so I just used it anyway. I think I came up with it as a variation off of Nova Scotia._

_My final notes on my experiment:  
__I've decided that merging these two plot lines (a mysterious 4__th__ Magic Knight shows up and causes trouble; Ascot has a mysterious past and a reason why his bangs are so long) was a good idea. I thought both ideas had some potential, but I didn't think they were interesting enough to write alone. Putting them together definitely made the whole story more complex and more fun to write. I guess I just like chaos in my stories._

_So anyway, thanks again to all my loyal readers and reviewers! Thanks for your support and encouragement! I may initially write all my stories for myself, but the real satisfaction comes when someone else reads it and enjoys it as well._


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